The latest album from Daniel Padden's One Ensemble sees the group expand to a seven- piece, the extended line-up extending the range of the music in the process. The blurring of many folk styles with elements of improvisation should come as no surprise to those familiar with this group's previous output but the unexpected span of textures and focus of energy bring the music onto a new trajectory.
Instead of using the group as his solo vehicle outside Volcano the Bear, Padden has begun releasing albums under his own name and letting this group develop its own voice. This loosening of the reins over the last couple of albums has seen The One Ensemble mature as a group, going from being simply a great band to a great band that seems to have ideas about becoming even better. Padden’s stamp is still apparent; on “The Beacon” the melody is very much what would be expected of him. The eastern European and klezmer influences that run through The One Ensemble’s music are even stronger on Other Thunders with pieces like “The Vapour” sounding like they could belong on one of Tzadik Records’s Radical Jewish Culture releases.
Yet elsewhere his role as captain of this vessel seems to be nominal only as the other players push The One Ensemble into strange waters. “The Instructions” has more in common with Volcano the Bear than Padden’s solo work in terms of structure but the mood brings to mind the disturbing formlessness of Limpe Fuchs and her group Anima. This otherworldly feeling dissipates with the “The Sun” whose mostly vocal structure has a tribal and ritualistic vibe to it, the previously encountered alienation of “The Instructions” making these human voices all the more compelling.
This mix between Padden’s vision and group experimentation makes all the individual pieces on Other Thunders into superb miniatures but overall it stops the album coming together like the earliest One Ensemble albums. However, instead of fracturing under the weight of its variety, Other Thunders instead revels in its multiple personalities. So while it may not beat Live at VPRO as my favourite One Ensemble album, it comes close and judging by the direction the group are taking on the last two releases, it will not be long until I have a new favorite.
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