Reminiscent of Jaga Jazzist’s frenetic drum-n-bass fuelled 2002 cult classic, A Livingroom Hush, Schizo marks the return of that supergroup’s motoric drummer Martin Horntveth (aka Gouldian Finch) who comes roaring back with a nonet of Norse prog-jazz gods. He’s mostly on percussion and keys here, with those relentless roiling beats performed by drummer Axel Skalstad.

This set started life as a Horntveth-penned commission for the 2021 Kongsberg Jazz Festival, titled ‘Polaroid’. The now seemingly on-ice Jaga were heading into slightly portentous terrain circa their 2020 album Pyramid, but here that old disregard for stylistic rules is back, albeit occasionally on the edge of collapse. The hyperactive bass of ‘CAPS LOCK’ is a case in point, Ole Morten Vågan’s manically maximalist picking adorned with knowingly cheesy synth stabs and jabbing horns. Orchestral layers quickly pile up too, Hammond, lap steel and Håkon Aase’s violin all adding to the richness. Things dissipate for a gritty guitar solo, before heading into the stratosphere again with the horns igniting the afterburners to lift Karl Bjorå’s axe to new heights.

And just when things all get a bit too much on the title track, a euphoric hands in the air melody triumphantly eases you home.

Schizo plays on these two-faced combinations throughout with intricate jazz smashed into head-spinning genre-defying vaults. And yet their joyous abandon is strangely cohesive, all driven by a good humoured Scandinavian swagger. It’s music to make your brain fizz while pogoing around your living room.