Perhaps best known for his work with the bands Zut un Feu Rouge and Ur Kaos, Lars Jonsson – a man who has always worked slowly and very carefully – has, after 34 years, completed his third solo album, an instantly recognisable, very grounded, collection of leider (songs doesn’t really cover it) with roots distributed across mediaeval, classical and contemporary forms. As previously, Lars plays all the instruments himself (bass, drums, piano, organ, clavinet, harmonium, violin, electronics, hammered dulcimer, bowed guitar) but this time shares the singing with (the impeccable but unshowy) Maria Wassrin. A re-mastered Ur Kaos appears on one track and the texts are all drawn from the work of the Nobel prize-winning German-Swedish lyric poet, Nelly Sachs. The sound is clear and clean; the arrangements feature only what is essential; it’s very well recorded and the musical language is refreshingly consistent, unfashionable and idiosyncratic. Serious work.