Ever since I first saw him attempting to destroy the Vortex (and his amp) with tidal waves of feedback while onstage with Fraud, it's been clear that Stian Westerhus is an unusual, unpredictable and unusually powerful voice in European jazz. The Norwegian guitarist's subsequent work, with Jaga Jazzist, Sidsel Endresen and Nils Petter Molvær among others, as well as a strong 2010 solo album, has consolidated his position. Listening to the opening track of Maelstrom, though, I find myself reaching over to check I'm playing the right disc. Who knew that the avant-garde guitarist actually wanted to sound like an amalgam of Radiohead, Muse, Jeff Buckley, Sigur Rós and The Blue Nile all along? Yes, there are instrumental skronk-out sections, during which, if televised, the camera would zoom in on a long-suffering fretboard. But although hardly chart-friendly, the material is surprisingly song-based: more than anything, Maelstrom is a showcase for Westerhus the rock vocalist. It's nice to know that he can do it, and do it fairly well. But for all its anthemic surge, the album is curiously unmoving.