Wako is celebrating 10 years as a band and releasing their sixth album! It is an album that in several ways sums up their incredible journey as good friends and band, and which reflects that we are now dealing with four experienced men, who still have a lot on their minds. On "Ut av det nye" they have gone back to how it all started, and we are presented nine songs by a purely acoustic quartet. Clear jazz references from an exceptionally well-copordinated collective with virtuosic solo outbursts. They give us beautiful ballads, pompous stories, as well as playful and free musical exposure. Øra are sure that "Ut av det nye" will stand as one of jazz Norway's strongest albums in recent years, and we now have the pleasure of presenting it to you.

“Ut av det nye” is the sequel to their critically acclaimed self-titled "Wako" (and "Wako - Live in Oslo") where the band researched their own limits both through musical collaboration partners and in the studio. This work was praised by the critics - Aftenposten could report that "this is how jazz is kept alive'', Dagens Næringsliv stated that Wako has "worked its way to the first division with an intelligent, melodic and sharp version", Dagsavisen said that they "keep the party going until the last note", while Romsdal's Budstikka simply named the live album "one of the strongest Norwegian releases of the year".

As on their previous records, the songs are written by Martin Myhre Olsen and Kjetil Mulelid, with one exception - an incredibly beautiful ballad contribution from bassist Bárður Reinert Poulsen. Rawness and romance pulses side by side. The music intertwines order and chaos, dissonance and consonance, light and shadow, and other forms of madness and harmony in a unique way. It is simply a demonstration of how Wako treats the acoustic jazz quartet format. What is repeated on "Ut av det nye" is how mature the music sounds. All four of them are in their early 30s, and if you have followed Wako's path it's clear that some long maturation steps have been taken since the start in 2012 at the legendary "Jazzlinja" in Trondheim. Wako plays with an authority and personality that places them at the forefront of Nordic jazz, and it has been mentioned on several occasions that Wako stands as one of the most dynamic and innovative groups on today's jazz scene. This is confirmed with their sixth album.

Individually, the musicians can also be seen as soloists and have their own strong voices on the jazz scene, as well as in projects such as the Norwegian Grammy Award winning bands Hegge and Flukten, Norwegian Grammy Award nominees Siril Malmedal Hauge and Megalodon Collective, as well as the Espen Berg trio and the Kjetil Mulelid Trio, which stand as two of Norway's leading piano trios of the present.

P R E S S 

“Best of October” - BandCamp

“Top jazz picks of 2022” textura (CA)

“A splendid album” - Written in Music (NL)

“Impressive album” Eyal Hareuveni, Salt Peanuts* 

“Out of the new comes something fresh and inspiring… a little gem of an album” - UKVibe (UK)

“Completed solidly! Detailed and full of form, without appearing static and polished” - Dag og Tid (NO)

“The music of Wako both soars to great heights and dives breathlessly into the chasms of harmony” - Dave Sumner (bandcamp) 

“A beautiful and powerful album by a quartet that once again proves to be one of the most interesting jazz quartets in Europe” - Written in Music (NL)

“If tender, most beautiful Jazz music for late night listening is your jam, this one should not go unnoticed for a reason” - Nitestylez (DE)

"The very best in this week's record pile is probably the quartet Wako, who surpass themselves on the album "Ut av det nye", with low-key intensity and superb melodies" - Dagens Næringsliv (NO)