A strong contender for the best album of the year AD2009, In the Country’s “Whiteout” is best described as transcendental. The third album by the Norwegian trio on Rune Grammofon is a one-of-a-kind mixture of contemporary jazz (or post-jazz) progressive music and classical composition.

Some personal remarks; their previous album “Losing Stones, Collecting Bones” was hard to get into for me, and to tell the truth I was a bit skeptical about “Whiteout”. Yet after a few pieces of background listening, it felt as though the space/time has warped and I was taken aback by the increasing clarity of mind while attending other things (that means not having to switch tabs every 10 seconds to do something meaningful). OK, it was highly subjective but it doesn’t need a genius to figure out that this has magical qualities especially after the first 15 minutes.

We already know Morten Qvenild’s piano can do wonders as his work with Shining, Jaga Jazzist and Suzanna and the Magical Orchestra has demonstrated in the past, yet Whiteout isn’t your standard jazz trio album. It is indeed an unparalleled amalgam with bassist Roger Arntzen, drummer Pål Hausken and producer/ multi instrumentalist Andreas Mjos in what could be one of the most grandiose journeys into unchartered musical territories. Let’s see if it will stand the test of time.