CD: Jessica Sligter - Polycrisis: yes!

Disquieting commentary on Europe’s downward spiral

The voice of Jean-Claude Juncker does not habitually turn up on albums. Jessica Sligter's Polycrisis: yes! though features extracts from a 2010 speech by he, the President of the European Commission on “The Dream has Died” and “The State of the Union”.

CD: Teksti-TV 666 - Aidattu Tulevaisuus

★★★★ CD: TEKSTI-TV 666 - AIDATTU TULEVAISUUS Finnish reimagining of familiar touchstones

Intense, inventive and impactful Finnish reimagining of familiar touchstones

Finland’s Teksti-TV 666 set their musical stall with 2016’s 1,2,3 album, which collected the tracks from their three EPs to date. Now, with their first album proper Aidattu Tulevaisuus, the nature of what they are comes into even sharper focus. In essence, they merge the attack of My Bloody Valentine and “Death Valley 69” Sonic Youth with a punk rock urgency and Krautrock motorik drive.

CD: Moskus - Mirakler

Fourth album from a Norwegian trio with little regard for genre constraints

Last month, theartsdesk reviewed Skadedyr’s Musikk!, an eccentric album which skipped “through jazz, traditional music, atonal scrapings and wind instrument burblings.” Twelve Norwegian musicians were heard.

CD: Skadedyr - Musikk!

Magpie-minded smörgåsbord from Norway’s self-declared musical ‘pests’

In spirit if not musical style, Musikk! shares chromosomes with late-Sixties ESP-label mavericks like Cro Magnon and Octopus, as well as The Residents of Meet the Residents, early This Heat and the Rock in Opposition collective. Sun Ra is in there too. The non-linear third album from Norway’s Skadedyr skips through jazz, traditional music, atonal scrapings and wind instrument burblings – all during the same piece.

CD: Melody’s Echo Chamber - Bon Voyage

★★★★★ MELODY'S ECHO CHAMBER - BON VOYAGE A wonderfully weird prog-odyssey

Long-awaited follow-up to 2012 debut is wonderfully weird prog-odyssey

Sophomore records are never easy, especially when your debut was as acclaimed and beloved as french artist Melody Prochet’s first outing as Melody’s Echo Chamber, and this follow-up has had its fair share of bumps in the road. Prochet first announced Bon Voyage in April last year, on her 30th birthday; a new song was released, and a string of tour dates to go with it. But shortly after, Prochet was hospitalised following a serious accident that left her with broken vertebrae in her neck and spine, and a brain aneurysm.

CD: Espen Eriksen Trio with Andy Sheppard - Perfectly Unhappy

★★★ EPSEN ERIKSEN TRIO WITH ANDY SHEPPARD Perfectly unhappy

Intermittently striking union of Norwegian jazz combo and British saxophonist

Perfectly Unhappy’s sixth track makes the album’s case. Until this point, Andy Sheppard’s playing has largely gone with the flow; working through and around the melodies pianist Espen Eriksen has composed for his trio’s first recorded collaboration with the British saxophonist. A minute 20 seconds into “Naked Trees”, the double bass comes to the fore. Then, after another 55 seconds, Sheppard begins playing with a free-flowing sinuousness and spontaneity which wasn’t previously apparent.

CD: Jenny Wilson - Exorcism

Sexual assault and its aftermath are chronicled with chilling precision

Exorcism begins with a track titled “Rapin’”. Its lyrics tell of a late night walk home during which the drunk protagonist is sexually assaulted. “Did you pick me because there’s no one else around?” asks Jenny Wilson in an account of her own experience. Two days later she goes to a doctor and, as she puts it, “I had to show my body again”.

Reissue CDs Weekly: Radka Toneff and Steve Dobrogosz

REISSUE CDS WEEKLY: RADKA TONEFF AND STEVE DOBROGOSZ The timeless ‘Fairytales’ unites understatement and forcefulness

The timeless ‘Fairytales’ unites understatement and forcefulness

Fairytales is lovely. It opens with a subtle version of Jimmy Webb’s “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” which merges Radka Toneff’s emotive and intimate vocal with Steve Dobrogosz’s sparse piano lines. The ingredients are minimal, there is no embellishment yet the performance is powerful.

Anna von Hausswolff: 'Forget about space and time, it's eternal and mysterious' - interview

ANNA VON HAUSSWOLFF The Swedish singer-songwriter on her new album 'Dead Magic'

The Swedish singer-songwriter on her new album 'Dead Magic'

Considering the coal-dark nature of her music, it was unsurprising Sweden's Anna von Hausswolff was dressed entirely in black while meeting up at London’s Rough Trade East shop to talk about her new album Dead Magic. Less foreseeable was her sunny disposition and willingness to veer off topic. She happily explored what has brought her to this point and spoke enthusiastically about her inspirations.

CD: Erlend Apneseth Trio - Åra

Terrific recontextualisation of Norway’s Hardanger Fiddle

Although the Hardanger Fiddle is regarded as a traditional Norwegian instrument, its use stretches back to no earlier than the middle of the 17th century. The music players summon from its strings is more easily seen as traditional though: music to dance to.