Lummer is the Swedish name for the now protected family of vascular plants (Clubmoss/Lycopodiaceae). Lummer grows slowly and the spores with which it reproduces can take 12—20 years to develop. These spores, known as Nikt in Swedish, were once ground into an extremely flammable light yellow “old woman’s gunpowder” that was used for early theatrical pyrotechnics. Volatile and explosive, Lummernikt requires careful handling.
There is something of the small scale dangerous in Finn Loxbo’s Lummernikt, too. A not-at-all-risk-free traversal at the limits of technique: building, blowing up and working through a band’s worth of harmonic scaffolding. Eight songs on a stage. Dramatic, breath-taking. At the same time the wild, flickering rush of tones spins up a centrifugal force that suspends a certain calm or sitting still at the music’s core.
On Lummernikt, Loxbo’s guitar often sounds more like a concert harp or the West African kora as he shifts a set of melodic fragments and extended lines through rapid-fire arpeggiated permutations with a spontaneous energy that is countered only by his extraordinary touch on the instrument and an undeniable sensitivity to his material’s dynamic potential.
It’s a glorious extension of the chiming chords and experimental preparations heard in his contributions to Magnus Granberg's Skogen (Another Timbre) or via his own ensemble Kommun (Fönstret, Thanatosis) and in striking contrast to the distorted wail he contributes to Anna Högberg Attack’s Ensamseglaren (Fönstret) or his all-in-the-red trio Kyosaku (Corbett vs Dempsey).
It’s now several years ago that Finn sent me the first recording of his new band Kommun and asked if I had suggestions for a label that might want to release it. I played that recording on repeat until I couldn’t shake the idea that I needed to start a label to put it out myself. Lummernikt is the spark that keeps that fire alive.
Credits
Finn Loxbo, Acoustic Guitar
All music written and performed by Finn Loxbo. Recorded 16 June + 14 December 2025 at Elektronmusikstudion EMS, Stockholm by John Chantler. Mixed by John Chantler. Mastered by Andreas [lupo] Lubich. Cover painting: 'A Moon Looks Down' by MSR + FCJ. This release has received financial support from Kulturrådet — The Swedish Arts Council.
c + p 2026. This LP is Fönstret—17.
Finn Loxbo är gitarrist med fokus på fri improvisation. Hans musik befinner sig oftast på endera sidan av två dynamiska extremer: ljudsvagt akustiskt eller mycket ljudstarkt. På den lågmälda sidan återfinner vi honom i hans egen ensemble Kommun, som soloakt och i samarbeten med t ex Skogen. Exempel från den ljudstarkare sidan är Kyosaku, Anna Högberg Extended Attack, och tidigare i band som Doglife, Strändernas svall och Fire! Orchestra.
