Consentrik Quartet

Consisting of twelve songs ranging between four and five minutes each with the exception of "Satomi", which is over nine minutes long, the album's runtime exceeds an hour and seven minutes. Describing the title, Cline noted it as the word "concentric" with a "k at the end" in Middle English, and included the word "consent".

Cline first performed with the ensemble before the COVID-19 pandemic at an event in Brooklyn by John Zorn,{{Cite web |last=Graff |first=Gary |date=March 21, 2025 |title=Nels Cline sets aside guitar improvisations — and strings up with flatwounds for the first time — on his debut release with Consentrik Quartet |url=https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/nels-cline-debuts-consentrik-quartet |access-date=March 25, 2025 |website=Guitar Player|language=en}} and started to create material for the album during the lockdowns.{{Cite web |last=Sacher |first=Andrew |date=January 15, 2025 |title=Nels Cline announces first Consentrik Quartet album, shares "The 23" |url=https://www.brooklynvegan.com/nels-cline-announces-first-consentrik-quartet-album-shares-the-23/ |access-date=March 25, 2025 |website=BrooklynVegan |language=en-US}} The album's lead single, "The 23", was released on January 16, 2025.{{Cite web |date=January 16, 2025 |first=Danielle |last=Chelosky |title=Nels Cline Announces New Album Consentrik Quartet: Hear "The 23" |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2293280/nels-cline-announces-album-from-new-band-consentrik-quartet-hear-the-23/music/ |access-date=March 25, 2025 |website=Stereogum |language=en}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}

| rev2 = Pitchfork

| rev2score = 7.3/10

| rev3 = PopMatters

| rev3score = {{Rating|8|10}}

}}

AllMusic remarked that "Consentrik Quartet is a bracing statement by this wonderful group and a future-forward approach to jazz, bursting with ideas and near symbiotic ensemble play."{{Cite web |title=Consentrik Quartet – Nels Cline |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/consentrik-quartet-mw0004454493 |first=Thom |last=Jurek |website=AllMusic |access-date=March 25, 2025 |language=en}} Pitchfork stated "Consentrik explore inside and beyond their collective past, moving from dreamy ballads to scrambled bedlam to boisterous grooves and back in a little more than an hour."{{Cite web |date=March 20, 2025 |last=Currin |first=Grayson Haver |title=Nels Cline: Consentrik Quartet |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/nels-cline-consentrik-quartet/ |access-date=March 25, 2025 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}} JazzTimes wrote that "With some of the music closer to through-written chamber pieces and others full of improvisation, Consentrik Quartet builds on Cline’s hard-to-define track record."{{Cite web |last=Shanley |first=Mike |date=March 17, 2025 |title=Nels Cline's Consentrik Quartet Arrives |url=https://jazztimes.com/features/profiles/nels-clines-consentrik-quartet-arrives/ |access-date=March 25, 2025 |website=JazzTimes |language=en-US}}

PopMatters rated the album eight out of ten, stating "With Consentrik Quartet, there’s something for everyone, although it leans heavily toward hard bop – a genre perfected by the Blue Note label on which the record appears."{{Cite web |date=March 13, 2025 |first=Chris |last=Ingalls |title=Nels Cline's Forward-Thinking Jazz Is Superb |url=https://www.popmatters.com/nels-cline-consentrik-quartet |access-date=March 25, 2025 |website=PopMatters |language=en-US}} BrooklynVegan commented "the album sounds more rooted in the organic sounds of the mid-to-late ’60s post-bop era compared to some of the more overtly modern fusions on the last Nels Cline Singers album."{{Cite web |date=March 14, 2025 |last=Sacher |first=Andrew |title=Nels Cline – Consentrik Quartet (Blue Note) |url=https://www.brooklynvegan.com/rwake-nels-cline-tiny-voices-circuit-des-yeux-huremic-clipping-charley-crockett-courting-more-reviews/ |access-date=March 25, 2025 |website=BrooklynVegan |language=en-US}}

{{Track listing

|headline=Consentrik Quartet track listing

|all_writing=Nels Cline.

|title1=The Returning Angel |length1=5:20

|title2=The 23 |length2=5:15

|title3=Surplus |length3=5:16

|title4=Slipping into Something |length4=5:03

|title5=Allende |length5=6:10

|title6=House of Steam |length6=5:52

|title7=Inner Wall |length7=5:15

|title8=Satomi |length8=9:39

|title9=The Bag |length9=4:59

|title10=Down Close |length10=4:13

|title11=Question Marks (The Spot) |length11=5:19

|title12=Time of No Sirens |length12=5:18

|total_length=67:39}}

• Nels Cline – electric guitars, acoustic guitars, effects, production, additional mixing
• Chris Lightcap – acoustic bass, effects
• Ingrid Laubrock – tenor saxophones, soprano saxophones
• Tom Rainey – drums
• Eli Crews – mixing, recording
• Thomas Dimuzio – mastering
• Nolan Thies – recording assistance
• Alex Conroy – recording assistance
• Hiroki Katayama – cover painting (Magata Jinja)
• Todd Gallopo – package design
• Nathan West – photography

{{Reflist}}

{{Nels Cline}}

Category:Blue Note Records albums

Category:2025 albums

Category:Nels Cline albums