The Norwegian trio Jøkleba (the acronym derives from the three musicians' surnames) was formed in 1990, establishing itself as one of the most unpredictable groups on the Scandinavian scene. The present disc is their fifth album, but the first for ECM.

It finds old friends Jørgensen, Balke and Kleive working with pulse and colour and texture in collective music-making, emphasizing electronics, trumpet and voice, in freely created pieces which hint at relationships between inspiration and instability. Track titles make reference to writings by Sylvia Plath, Laura Restrepo, Sadegh Hedayat, Guy de Maupassant, Malcolm Lowry and Ken Kesey, in particular to their descriptions of the disintegration of identity, "the human mind when it gets lost", as Jon Balke puts it.

Although the particular chemistry of Jøkleba is unique unto itself, all three musicians have recorded prolifically for ECM in a wide variety of contexts. Keyboardist Jon Balke first recorded for ECM aged 19, as a member of the Arild Andersen Quartet, and later was co-founder of the Masqualero group. As a leader he has made his mark with Oslo 13 and the Magnetic North Orchestra, groups which have brought a new subtlety to large ensemble improvising.

Trumpeter and singer Per Jørgensen is well-known to ECM listeners through his contributions to projects with Jon Balke, Michael Mantler, Miki N'Doye and Markku Ounaskari/Samuli Mikkonen. One of Scandinavia's foremost drummers, Audun Kleive's ECM appearances include albums with Terje Rypdal, Marilyn Mazur's Future Song, Arild Andersen and Arve Henriksen.

'Outland' was recorded at Oslo's Rainbow Studio, and produced by Jøkleba.