Dive – Girls in Airports

Dive, released under the Mawi label, marks a turning point in the discography of the Danish quintet Girls in Airports. Here, they abandon the periphery of the ethereal to submerge themselves in a rawer, more physical rhythmicity. After years of building soundscapes that bordered on ambient and ethio-jazz, the band—featuring Martin Stender on saxophone, Lars Greve on saxophones and clarinets, Mathias Holm on keyboards, Victor Dybbroe on percussion, and the addition of Anders Vestergaard on drums—presents itself as an ensemble of unparalleled precision. Melody no longer claims the spotlight; it is now a residue floating atop collective sequences where light and darkness maintain a constant pulse.

The ensemble operates with a hypnotic maturity. The dual drum kits inject palpable energy, allowing Stender and Greve’s saxophones to intertwine in cascades sustained by the analog hiss of Holm’s Wurlitzer. There are no hierarchies: the record breathes as a single organism expanding toward the cinematic, evoking textures that recall both the psychedelia of Pink Floyd and the depth of the most inquisitive jazz-rock.

Pieces like Weaver function as soundtracks to an introspective science fiction, while the closing track, Anima, returns the group to an almost spiritual melodic clarity. 

Dive is not a collection of tracks; it is a state of presence. It is music designed for trance, where improvisation does not seek individual virtuosity, but rather the dissolution of the subject into a chromatic journey that never loses its rhythmic center.