Nils Frahm, F.S. Blumm

The Berlin brouhaha of FS Blumm and Nils Frahm return with Handling, their fifth joint release, indicating no signs of collaborative letup. Over three long pieces totting to 40 minutes, the album not only retreads the same beaten path as 2021's 2X1=4 but rethreads the bootlace; recorded at Saal 3 in the Funkhaus complex, the new record is a slow-motion bloom compared to that one's hydrocultured calculation: layered pianos, celestas, contemporary Cristal Bachet, guitars and bells drift through an overall vitrine improvisatory set, each moment deliberately reassembled until the seams vanish. Titled 'Leuchter' (German for "candlestick"), the tracks emit a flickering, pinch-me energy; Frahm's structural rigour shares in the glory, notably venturing beyond his usual piano ambit.