FIRE! is a Nordic experimental power trio featuring Mats Gustafsson (baritone saxophone, flute), Johan Berthling (bass guitar) and Mariá Portugal (drums, vocals). Perhaps the best-known and most active member of FIRE! is Mats Gustafsson, a Swedish free jazz saxophonist, improviser and composer. His wide-ranging musical interests span free jazz, rock, electronics and noise, as well as collaborations with theatre and dance companies. He has released more than 250 albums and performed over 2,000 concerts worldwide. His collaborators include Sonic Youth, Faust, Dälek, Peter Brötzmann, Joe McPhee, Neneh Cherry, Ken Vandermark, The Ex, Merzbow, Christian Marclay, Otomo Yoshihide, and many others.
FIRE! has forged a new approach to improvised music, blending elements of post-rock, free jazz, psychedelic rock and noise. Following their debut album You Liked Me Five Minutes Ago (2009), they collaborated with artists such as Jim O’Rourke, Oren Ambarchi, Stephen O’Malley and David Sandström. In 2013, they brought together 28 additional musicians, resulting in Exit!, the first album by FIRE! Orchestra. The ensemble went on to release four more albums before FIRE! returned to their power-trio roots — saxophone, bass and drums — on their most recent album, Testament (2024), produced by Steve Albini.
Sixteen years after the formation of the original trio, FIRE! returns with a new line-up that emerged from FIRE! Orchestra, where Mariá Portugal, Johan Berthling and Mats Gustafsson have played together in recent years. The arrival of the Brazilian drummer and vocalist significantly expands the trio’s musical vocabulary. The band will arrive with a new album, scheduled for release in 2027.
