After a solid run of five studio albums and two double live albums, Psychedelic Backfire I and II, (both 2019), Elephant9 had taken their groovy mix of high energy rock and power jazz as far as they could.

In this respect their previous album Arrival of The New Elders (2021) came as a welcome and most timely addition to their recorded output.

More varied, mature and reflective, they were as groovy as ever, but more structured and less jam oriented, earning them a 9/10 review in Uncut and a spot in their albums of the year list, noting their telepathic communion and concluding with "this is an Elephant9 you'll never forget".

Jazzwise, Shindig, Prog, Electronic Sound, The Quietus agreed. Mythical River is moulded much in the same way and a natural follow-up, with six stellar new compositions by keyboard maestro Ståle Storlokken, bookended by two short cosmic snippets.

From the hypnotic and magical to the razor sharp and polyrhythmic, this is yet another strong group effort from a trio on top of their game.

Comparisons have been made with bands dating as far back as the sixties, but with the latest albums, Elephant9 appear as a thoroughly contemporary, timeless and even futuristic sounding band.

Ståle started his musical journey in Veslefrekk with Vespestad and Henriksen, soon morphing into Supersilent with Helge Sten on board.

He's also a member of Hedvig Mollestad Weejuns, Moster! and Humcrush, and have collaborated with a number of artists, most notably Motorpsycho.