The Wire Magazine

Kim Myhr is a thirtysomething Norwegian guitarist who you may have heard on reductionist improv albums with Jim Denley, Ingar Zach and French pianist Benoit Delbecq. But that won't prepare you for this, his debut solo outing. 'All your limbs singing' is a delirious love letter to the 12-string acoustic guitar. Eploying a symphonic minimalist approach that recalls Rhys Chatham or Tetuzi Akiyama, Myhr aims to immerse the listener within the instrument's rich and ringing world of texture. 'Weaving into Choir' is a racing strum, motoring through shape-shifting chords that throw up clouds of overtones. Six minutes in, Myhr lowers the volume but presses the accelerator. The chords are complex but simply rooted, and playing games with their colour variations requires considerable technique. Myhr could extend this 12 minute piece to fill the whole album, but he wants to set his stall. So 'Descent' offers a series of cascading phrases separated by silence - limpid pools, akin to the evenly spaced palm trees photographed on the sleeve. 'Blinky' is a slow procession of arpeggiated chords, where the point is to enjoy the shimmering overtones left in the chords' wake. 'Leaping into Periphery' is scampering harmonics, and again there's plenty of lightly worn technique. Unlike many acoustic guitarists, Myhr is not referencing the blues at all, though he bends a few notes on the closing track. He simply wants you to get as lost as he is inside his sound. It's a romantic and seductive invitation.