‘Trust’ is the new full-length album from the boundlessly talented Astrid Engberg released through the Danish label, Creak Inc.
There’s something about Engberg’s perspective on her music that really resonates with the pure of heart. With her all-encompassing approach of elegantly fusing together seemingly disparate genres like “spiritual jazz, dance music and breakbeats with percussive minimalism” (as aptly described via her Bandcamp page), Engberg consistently manages to create something that connects the dots in imaginative and unique ways.
With a litany of past releases to date – including the breakout album ‘Tulpa’ (2020) and the standalone single ‘Roots to Petals’ (2021) – word continues to spread and an increasing amount of people find themselves falling under Engberg’s ingenious musical spell.
Credited as a singer, songwriter, producer and DJ, the Danish artist relishes in creating without restriction and making the results just seem effortless. It’s music that seems to also find its joy in its reinterpretations as remixes from Neue Grafik, Sofie Birch and Creak Records label mate Nejrup present more expansive and electronic-fuelled perspectives of past Engberg releases. It’s further testament to the broad tapestry of Engberg’s music that ultimately allows itself to continually find new life, which brings us to the latest project marked with her indelible touch, ‘Trust’.
Across the album’s eleven tracks, we’re introduced to some of Engberg’s most accomplished work – from the atmospheric ‘Falling (OK Not Cool)’, to the sparse ‘I Should Care’, the ethereal ‘Chains’ and the exuberant album opener ‘Blue Rise and The Fall’. Released within the whirlwind of new motherhood and the love, anxiety and panic that all come along with that experience, ‘Trust’ is brilliantly performed, intricately produced and earnestly written, once again, earning Engberg the plaudits of having ascended to an even higher plateau.
The album is also aided by some sensational guests throughout including the highly-regarded trumpeter and solo artist in his own right, Tobias Wiklund, who features on the aforementioned ‘Blue Rise and The Fall’; saxophonist, composer and improviser Maria Dybbroe of Caktus, Køs, Sidechains and Orsa, amongst others, blesses ‘I Should Care’, while multi-instrumentalist Miguel Atwood-Ferguson is featured across four of the album’s tracks – electric violin in hand – adding his unmistakable magic to proceedings.
The concept of “trust” is interesting to consider when regarding Astrid Engberg releases. All artists, over the course of releasing music born of truth and sincerity, ultimately amass an increasing amount of trust from their audience. And it’s trust that actually works both ways – listeners trust in artists to create music to a standard they hold them accountable to while artists trust in their audience to afford them the freedom to continually try new things. An album like ‘Trust’ ultimately proves to be the result of the bond Astrid Engberg has created with her ever-expanding audience and the faith they have that wherever musically she decides to go, they’ll be right there with her.
