'Solid Ether' (2000) saw Molvaer gain a higher profile, as he found himself rightly cited as one of the leading Norwegian musicians in the new electronic movement that was gaining pace in Northern Europe at the time. Alongside Molvaer, the likes of keyboardist and producer Bugge Wesseltoft (also the founder and boss of Jazzland records), French trumpeter Erik Truffaz, and Swedish band E.S.T., all shared a not-purely-jazz aesthetic; shifting the perceptions and limitations that had been stifling the music's growth for so long. In fact 'Solid Ether' saw Nils leaving the 'jazz' form further and further behind, as he employed more beats and bass lines that took drum and bass and jungle beats as the jumping off point, while retaining his ability to create haunting melodies and hypnotic grooves. The album also saw Molvaer utilising the increasingly sophisticated yet more malleable sound technology to create new layers of depth and sheen to his recordings.

The innate sense of movement, of an otherworldly time and place, of a rich sci-fi soundscape that is created by the lone voice of NPM's trumpet, supported and surrounded by ghosts from another sound-universe also continued. The title itself 'Solid Ether' tries to defy the normal laws of physics, by attempting to freeze the ephemeral. Yet the beat very much goes on with 'Dead Indeed', 'Vilderness I', 'Ligotage', 'Trip' and 'Solid Ether' all offering distracting, groove-laden forays into an alien suburbia; disjointed yet complex, fuelled with a sadness and joy that can only relate, ultimately, to the sadness and joy of the human condition. As before NPM is joined by a cutting-edge crew of sound-smiths; guitarist Aarset leading the way, but with bassist Audun Erlien, sound-sculptor Paal Nythus a.k.a. DJ Strangefruit, and live-lynchpin, drummer Rune Arnesen creating a vast array of fresh sounds. The one anomaly here is 'Merciful', a crushingly delicate duet between Molvaer on piano and singer Sidsel Endresen that is both pure and unapologetically poetic. Offering a sad yet compelling insight on human fragility, the two minute song, appearing once early on in the album and then at the end, in two marginally different forms, offers an unresolved sense of comfort to the listener:

"Merciful are these stories that we spin,
- You'll leave just an echo,
- Like trains forever leaving stations"

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