Hedvig Mollestad has never shied away from the spotlight. Throughout her career, the Norwegian guitarist has channeled prog rock and hair metal and, if you squint, the more indulgent corners of the ECM universe—extravagance is her defining feature. The gnarly riffs and polished guitar tones across last year’s Bees in the Bonnet occasionally leaned into the jazzy or minimal, but the overarching sheen was of a retro rock machismo. Even her 2022 epic Maternity Beat , an album with the 12-piece Trondheim Jazz Orchestra , left plenty of room for her blistering solos. Bitches Blues takes a different tack: In positioning Mollestad as an exploratory team player, its six tracks reveal her chops well beyond that of a showboating virtuoso. This modesty is immediately clear: Mollestad spews scattered melodies and singed noise on the opening title track, sounding more in the tradition of free improvisation than Mahavishnu Orchestra.…