Ilmiliekki Quartet from Helsinki return with their new self-titled album on We Jazz Records on 11 February 2022. The group, including Verneri Pohjola (trumpet), Tuomo Prättälä (piano), Antti Lötjönen (bass) and Olavi Louhivuori (drums) is a mainstay in the Finnish scene and the band has been steadily developing their sound for nearly two decades now. It could be said that the group's musicians, each also a solo artist of note these days, has grown with and through performing together with this regularly working quartet. Ilmiliekki Quartet's music has a song-like melodic quality, which pairs naturally with their often freeform search for new musical landscapes.
"Follow the Damn Breadcrums", a Verneri Pohjola composition, is a fitting introduction to an album which is characterised be the band's highly inspired and ever-evolving musical vision, where each of the four members have their own voice while perfoming music relying on strong interaction at all times. ("Ilmiliekki" is Finnish for "fire ablaze".)