Oren Ambarchi / Johan Berthling / Andreas Werliin: Ghosted II

Life’s not easy, and those who tell you otherwise probably aren’t worth listening to. Yes, we all need our vices, and throughout these climes, the sonic explorations of Oren Ambarchi have always had an uncanny knack of untangling the tightest knots in the mind.

With a slew of collaborations under his belt over the years, the Australian experimentalist’s latest alliance continues alongside Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin, and following their acclaimed 2022 debut, Ghosted, the trio return with the equally excellent Ghosted II.

While Ghosted marked their first collaboration as a trio, Ambarchi, Berthling and Werliin have worked together since the turn of the century. Having played together in the experimental odyssey Fire!, Ambarchi and Berthling have also previously made music together, releasing the 2015 LP, Tongue Tied.

Ghosted consisted of four compositions that were like a broken dream with The Necks undertaking house band duties (incidentally, last year Ambarchi released the excellent Placeness LP alongside Chris Abrahams, and Robbie Avenaim). Ghosted II moves on swiftly from its predecessor, entering exciting new places with the kind of ebb and flow that sits somewhere between a caffeine rush and a anxiety attack.

Chris Abrahams / Oren Ambarchi / Robbie Avenaim: Placelessness

As Ghosted’s cover art evoked the minimalism of a nighttime intensity one usually captures through the blur of a moving vehicle, Ghosted II is more tailored towards out gunning AI. And sonically, Ambarchi, Berthling and Werliin transfer this imagery to sound in purely evocative ways.  

Berthling’s heavy bass swing and Werliin’s nimble percussion form a rhythm section that is a maze for Ambarchi to navigate through; his flickering guitar passages moving between chaos and catharsis.

Where the former is concerned, look no further than opening cut, en. The shift is noticeable with pulsating rhythms that drone, flash, and bang. It sees the trio completely upping the ante with their best moment committed to tape so far, combining motorik majesty with thrumming afro-beat. The result is something fun and assuredly hypnotic.

After such a frenetic start, två is the required come down, as the trio present afro-beat more tailored to seep into the pores. Ambarchi’s metallic guitar echoes are like particles drifting in space, and it creates a stirring, ambient vibe.

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Then there’s tre, which unmasks their mischievous side. Imagine the orchestra’s outliers performing for the suited and booted. The reprobates, completely stealing the show with an improvisation of herb-induced orchestral dub that would quite frankly have those with self-professed ‘refined taste’ heading from the stalls in horror. In their own way, Ambarchi, Berthling and Werliin underline their punk spirit with the kind of composition that sees them completely in the groove.

And that continues on fyra, where the trio take us into a world of polyrhythmic catharsis; Ambarchi’s spidery arpeggios working above Werliin’s lively percussion and Berthling’s sparse bass lines. It’s a protracted groove that connects all the dots in the mind, taking you to a place where little else matters.

In this sense, Ghosted II taps into the vein of psychedelic, and whilst the term is a loaded one these days, there’s some truth in it. The trio bend in ways they have never bent before, and not only does it make for compelling listening, but also the results are as wonderful as ever. So much so that Ghosted II exceeds the grandeur and dynamism of its predecessor.

Ghosted II is out Friday via Drag City. Purchase from Bandcamp.