Christensen, Stefan

***Stefan Christensen returns with his first album in three years. In Time sees Christensen enlist the support of the New Haven crew, with contributions from all members of Headroom and Mountain Movers. The album delves back into full band style psych rock akin to his 2019 Unknown Fortune album, albeit in a more deliberate and meditative manner that close listeners will find deeply rewarding. Although In Time was recorded in just a couple of weekend sessions in late 2023, the songs featured were being crafted as far back as 2021. The album nods to a number of different strains of international psychedelia. At different times listeners will catch hints of influence from Sweden’s Pärson Sound / Träd Gräs Och Stenar family tree, UK psych-folk heavyweights like Trees, New Zealand freaks like The Garbage And The Flowers and Space Dust, Kraut-y passages ala Faust, as well as the obvious homage to the Ditch-era in the album’s title track. There is also the notable “Foreign Outlaw,” which is the first to feature Christensen playing jouhikko, an instrument he began playing recently when delving deeper into his own Finnish heritage, the countries traditional songs, and modern experimenters like Pekko Käppi and Lau Nau. All of this is filtered through Christensen’s typical somber and muted delivery, as he contemplates time, the inevitability of its passage, and the horrors along the way. Unlike the dirge of Christensen’s home recorded work In Time was beautifully recorded to tape by John Miller, the New Haven crew’s in-house producer/engineer. Drummer Ross Menze dubbed the album “Hi-Fi Steve” in the process. This shift in fidelity is wonderfully paired with the mesmerizing artwork of Ryan Kalentowski, who created the full jacket and insert layout. Limited to 300 copies.