The Australian trio is making its presence known with their latest release The Known and the Unknown on Challenge Records. Marking a definitive transition into a new area, they interweave electronic sounds with acoustic improvisations while the complexity of the compositions and group improvs is diligently balanced with the elegant melodies and full harmonies. The album’s lively and radiant quality makes for an exciting listening experience.

Inspired by a number of various influences ranging from Aphex Twin and Vijay Iyer to Tortoise and The Bad Plus, Trichotomy’s music has an intense rhythmic focus as well as the melodic clarity reminiscent of Pat Metheny, Brad Mehldau or Tord Gustavsen and Nik Bärtsch’s contemporary jazz. Compositions often find their delicate equilibrium between  mainly pre-arranged sections and completely free improvisations. The Known and the Unknown is an apt description of the material that the trio recorded in June 2016 and, more importantly, it is a representation of the giving and taking in improvised music. The music cannot exist without one or the other, and both principles have to be egalitarian.

The trio is touring the UK and the European mainland in January and February 2017.