It can often be hard to ascertain the intentions behind the creation of music. Love songs often convey an obvious message, but the creation of instrumental jazz trip-hop can create more questions than answers. Italian three piece 3eem provides an awkward journey for the listener on its third release, Third Segment, and at times eyebrows are raised as to where the music is going.

Moments on the album are reminiscent of soundtracks to foreign language films and early 90’s soft core pornography. “Supergatto” presents sounds that are familiar to much of the album: atmospheric beats and lone saxophone toy with each other without ever forming a solid relationship. This style adds a depth to the bare instruments and creates a bleak atmosphere. As a song progresses towards the edge of joint musicianship, it often gets broken down.  There is a continual feeling of frustration on the album as the flow of tracks is frequently interrupted. Either jazz-tinged drumming or a saxophone solo breaks the song down and destroys the work that seemed promising. Where some bands would break a song down to build it in another direction, 3eem seems happy to break a song down and then just create a mixture of unrelated sounds and textures.

When the band does click together there are some great results. The mixtures of sax, guitar, and effects makes for a great combination, and when in full flow, they touch on the sound of fellow Italians Ephel Duath. Parts of “Oazaca” have dark undertones as the drums and sax come together, the resulting soaring noise remarkably full for three musicians. “Free Karma Food” also has some great atmospheric work and the sax adds a dark dynamic to the cymbal crashes below.  These moments of collective cohesion are few and far between though, and a lot of this release just passes by.

The intentions of 3eem are unclear. The group has the ability to create music which could work well in harmony, and Third Segment does provide moments which would be very entertaining. Yet, it seems that 3eem does not want to produce music that is easily consumed. The sporadic jazz playing makes music that keeps the listener on the edge and constantly shifting between comfort zones. If that was the band's intention then it has succeeded, but if a listener is not looking for that specifically, then there's little value to be found here.

-Gary Davidson