The band’s name refers to Norway’s 91 years of unwilling royal union with Sweden before its 1905 independence, signifying the friendlier, debut alliance of these fine veterans from both countries.

The prolific and resourceful Norwegian drummer Gard Nilssen’s many bands include the stormy prog-jazz of Bushman’s Revenge, a currently symptomatic native style for which his keyboardist compatriot Ståle Størlokken is eminence grise. Unionen rarely stray into such ferocious terrain, instead finding more clandestine power. Per 'Texas' Johansson’s mournfully elegiac clarinet solo haunts opener ‘Ståhlbad’, till Nilssen’s quick, clicking beat is waylaid by distorted keyboards.

The organic mixture of melodic emotion and its fracture seems natural for this warmly inviting yet exploratory outfit, which finds original angles together. ‘6893’ explores the sound you’d expect, with Størlokken’s Fender Rhodes’ rasping rough edge and retro science-fiction whirlpools setting up Johansson’s tenor cries over Nilssen’s rapid smash and rattle. ‘Ganska Långt Ut På Vänsterkanten’, with Johansson’s lugubriously troll-like baritone clarinet and flightier flute, is more typical of Unionen’s mostly acoustic sound.

As with Nilssen’s hushed, resonant percussion on ‘Unionen’, these idiosyncratic players intuitively conjure mysterioso atmospheres and landscapes. ‘Search Party’ would be an equally apt title track, as Petter Eldh’s double-bass sets it on a path pensively cleared by Johansson as if tunnelling through a snowdrift, the destination uncertain even as Unionen plough on, confident in this combination of Scandinavia’s rich jazz resources.