If there's one word to describe Eskil Roos' debut Mystery of the Mind it's 'contrast'

Any new piano trio making their first recording faces quite a high bar.

Waltz for Debbie. Night Train. The Art of the Trio...

So, not only do they need to introduce themselves, they also must achieve the almost impossible. Somehow, they need to stand above all the comparisons that will, naturally, come.

Swedish pianist Eskil Roos, chose to do it in possibly, the hardest way - by focusing the album entirely on his compositions.

Well, I'd say it worked.

The first thing you notice is that Roos doesn't stick to a singular formula on the record. Slower, atmosphere-driven pieces contrast dynamic, groove-driven ones. Simpler piano pieces stand against intriguing arrangements. Nothing repeats itself here. The record moves forward, and every composition introduces something new.

Going Home alternates between near stillness and explosions of sound.

The title track uncovers its main melody slowly. It starts with a few chords in silence, and slowly develops the full melody. And then, when you think the piano will continue, the bass takes over. Marvellous.

Trollkarlens ring (The Wizard's Ring) is a quiet song. But it's far from a ballad. Even though the trio hardly plays on it, the swaying groove is there between the notes. It feels almost as if the silence was the rhythm.

And such is this album. Full of contrast, where the atmosphere of one track is replaced by the groove of another.

However, there is one thing I dislike here. The sound. Mystery of the Mind is yet another example of loudness wars reaching jazz. Sound is compressed. There is little dynamic range, and all instruments sit on the same level.

But jazz is not like other genres when it comes to dynamics. The space between a pianist's left hand and right hand, the decay of a ride cymbal fading into silence, the moment a soloist drops to a whisper before the band comes back in, these are not incidental qualities. They are the music.

Well, the music on this record has very little of that.

To me, a serious oversight.