Album Review: Ebba Åsman - When You Know


Ebba Åsman’s When You Know unfolds like a dream—half-remembered, elusive, vivid in fragments. A smoky lounge materializing in the mind’s eye, its edges blurred. Åsman, Swedish and in her late twenties, steps forward with a trombone in her hands, a voice that drifts and lingers, and a sound that slips between the lines of jazz, soul, and something altogether more ephemeral. Her 2023 breakthrough album Be Free hinted at this journey. But here, the lines are softer, the textures richer. And for the first time, her own vocals are featured. They're a revelation.

And then there’s the trombone. It doesn’t hide in the shadows, doesn’t play the role of ornament. It leads. A voice of its own, brassy and warm, in turns fragile or assertive, essential in every sense. It anchors the ethereal, draws you back from the clouds. Few dare to let such an instrument take center stage in this way. Åsman doesn’t hesitate.

The album moves in waves, each track a ripple on a wider canvas. Hummable melodies float past, easy and unforced. There’s a Saint Germain coolness here, Massive Attack’s shadows flitting at the edges, but it’s unmistakably hers. She builds a world where her voice and her trombone entwine, pulling you into grooves that feel both intimate and infinite.

But for all its beauty, there’s a sameness to its rhythm. A steady tempo that lulls and soothes, never quite breaking its stride. You might find yourself longing for a sudden gust, a spark that lights up the calm. One or two tracks that dare to quicken, to disrupt the stillness, might have left a deeper mark.

Yet the album’s restraint is part of its charm. When You Know isn’t about grand gestures. It’s a quiet, assured statement. Ebba Åsman shapes her world with care, each note deliberate, each pause meaningful. It’s a space you’ll want to revisit, to explore again, finding something new in its lingering echoes.

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