SOFT FFOG – Focus

SOFT FFOG – Focus

RELEASE YEAR: 2025
BAND URL: https://softffog.bandcamp.com/album/focus

Considering the fact that these kick-ass Norwegian jazz proggers wrote and recorded such a stunning and unique debut album as they did back in 2022, it should come as no surprise that some of us had high hopes for this sophomore effort of theirs and expected great things. Soft Ffog are not ones to let us down and Focus is every bit the stroke of musical genius that yours truly was hoping for.

Cackling with an infectious energy and full of irresistible grooves, Focus sees the group make good on the debut and venture even further into an eclectic and experimental musical sphere that harbors both idyll and an understated sense of melancholy. The arrangements are as creative and clever as they come but there is nothing pretentious about them, and the four compositions are akin to a warm breeze that is both welcoming and invigorating. Their sound harnesses many flavors and influences, and if you cast a glance at three of the telling song titles you will see where certain ideas and impulses came from (i.e. Camel, Focus, and Hendrix). At times the music comes across as wonderfully carefree, other times we are treated to intense and ecstatic passages that are nothing if not propulsive and mesmeric, but one thing that is constant throughout is its brilliance and momentum. The LP brims with imagination and everything on the disc sounds ferociously instinctive and vibrant. It seems that whatever Soft Ffog do, it simply works and sweeps you off your feet. What is not to like?

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