Food

In 1998 British saxophonist Iain Ballamy and Norwegian drummer Thomas Strønen formed the avant jazz and improvisational ensemble Food after an unplanned encounter. The project had already grown into a quartet that included trumpeter Arve Henricksen and bassist Mats Eilertsen by the time recording began. Their self-titled debut and Organic & GM Food both came out on the Feral label, the first in 1999 and the second in 2001. Rune Grammophon later issued Veggie in 2002 and Last Supper in 2004.

By 2007’s Molecular Gastronomy the lineup had contracted back to the original duo of Ballamy and Strønen. After extensive tours and festival appearances both as a pair and with additional musicians, Food moved to ECM for Quiet Inlet in 2010; the return to quartet size came with the arrival of Christian Fennesz on guitar and electronics and Nils Petter Molvær on trumpet and electronics. Mercurial Balm, released on the same label in 2012, expanded the group still further by adding Prakash Sontakke on slide guitar and vocals and Evind Aarset on electric guitar and electronics.

In the months after the album’s release the band performed a series of European concerts. Strønen and Ballamy, joined again by Fennesz, assembled at engineer Ulf Holand’s Oslo studio—whose past clients include David Bowie, Satyricon, and Motorpsycho—in June 2013 and captured a large quantity of material. Strønen subsequently spent five months reshaping the recordings on his own, steering the results toward more overt rock textures and propulsive electronica. Label head Manfred Eicher completed the mixes while the musicians rehearsed the pieces for live performance. ECM issued This Is Not a Miracle in November 2015 during the group’s tour.