This is the third album on ECM by the 30-year-old Norwegian trumpeter following 2011's Skala and the 2007 debut The Door. Making an impression first as the long time trumpeter and multi instrumentalist for Jaga Jazzist, and fairly recently as sideman in the bands of both Manu Katché and Lars Danielsson, the feeling is that Eick hasn't yet arrived as a solo artist. But that observation is probably unfairly linked to the weight of expectation of following in the footsteps of other A-list trumpeters who have made their name on the illustrious Munich label, including fellow countrymen Nils Petter Molvaer and Arve Henriksen through to Enrico Rava, Tomasz Stańko and the late Kenny Wheeler. He shares with his compatriots in that list the desire to sonically reflect something of the Norwegian landscape in his music, but Eick's tone is full, more generous and has a forlorn quality, the latter echoing his debt to Kenny Wheeler to whom he dedicates the album. Instead of the rhythmic and textural flexibilities of jazz, Eick prefers to focus on enhancing the atmospheric qualities of his tunes, enabled by the label's typically high standards of production. Jon Balke's mostly arpeggiated, minimalistic approach to the piano sounds like it could be an accompaniment for a folky singer-songwriter rather than a jazz improviser, and folk violinist Gjermund Larsen's both shadows and counterpoints some attractive trumpet-led themes suggesting a rural and spiritual song component to Eick's originals.