Dreamers Circus

The debut from this Danish/Swedish trio might be short – it’s just a five track EP – but it bristles with ideas and confidence. Rather tan a new venture it seems as if they’ve been playing together for years. The compositions from Ale Carr are little gems, but it’s the arrangements that give hints at the real maturity here. They’re not a vehicle for any single musicians, but for the band working as a whole. The mix of piano, violin and cittern works surprisingly well and gives them the range to encompass everything from folk to jazz and even into the sort of modern chamber music that’s so European. Yet there’s a real intimacy to everything, a warmth and friendliness. A couple of guests help out, with loveliest contribution coming from Sofia Karlsson, whose gentle, wordless singing on “Idas Farväl” beautifully summing up the melancholy of the track. This is a band with a great future. It’s not folk, it’s not something that sits easily in any pigeonhole. It’s just good music.