Category Archives: Blog

Sandro Perri announces new album Soft Landing

22 June 2019

Photo: Jen Parker

Sandro Perri has released several wonderful and stylistically diverse albums for over 15 years, under his own name and other monikers, and also in collaboration with many different musicians. So news of a new Sandro Perri album is always marvelous news. Following last year’s In Another Life, Perri is ready to release Soft Landing, “this time with guitar at the calmly rambling heart” of the album tracks.

Soft Landing arrives on September 6th through Constellation but we can already hear an excerpt of the warm and sublime 16-minute opening track “Time (You Got Me)”.

Kieran Brunt’s choral group Shards set to release debut album Final Sound

21 June 2019

Kieran Brunt‘s ties with choir singing go back to his school days. The London based singer, songwriter and producer later studied music at St. John’s College in Cambridge, and since then he has collaborated with the likes of Terry Riley, Anna von Hausswolff, Michael Price, and Nils Frahm, amongst many others. He first collaborated with Frahm in 2016, when he was asked to form a choral group, Shards, who are now signed to Erased Tapes and set to release their debut album. Entitled Final Sound, the record features entirely new compositions by Brunt, melding voices, synths and percussion. “The album’s pieces are intended to be miniature sonic paintings”, explains the label, “with each adding to an overall picture of the emotional confusion of early adulthood: the uncertainty, the excitement, the terror and relief.”

We’ll have to wait until August 30th for Final Sound to drop but we can already hear the magical first single ‘Summer Sickness’, a track that “explores feeling anxious and depressed whilst everyone around you is seemingly happy and smiling”.

Ami Dang unveils video for new single ‘Love-liesse’

20 June 2019

After sharing the delicate and gorgeous single ‘Raiments´, Ami Dang is teasing her upcoming album Parted Plains with a new mesmerizing track, ‘Love-liesse’. It comes with a video accompaniment, which reflects how Dang was inspired by South Asian and Middle Eastern folktales, and featuring her own footage of a trip to India and 18th century paintings of the tragic romance of Sohni Mahiwal. The video was directed by Meredith Moore, who had this to say about it:

“This music video was directly inspired by Ami’s interest in South Asian and Middle Eastern folktales, specifically the tragic romance Sohni Mahiwal which tells the tale of forbidden love outside the rules of the caste system which ends in the lovers’ deaths.

Using footage Ami shot on her travels to India and 18th century paintings of the tragic romance Sohni Mahiwal, the video mimics Ami’s process of making music, combining traditional methods with modern digital electronic methods, by using the grey & white “transparency” grid as a sort of digital liminal space-a space from which all creation begins-to allow further rumination and where the images from the paintings are transformed and reconstituted into a vast digital landscape to create a new vision.

In this new vision, the lovers do not perish in the choppy waters, instead they are happily reunited above the waters, depicted here in the late 18th century painting “Embracing Lovers with Sparklers” which shows a loving couple during Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, which celebrates the triumph of light over darkness.”

Here´s ‘Love-liesse’.

Parted Plains is out on August 2nd through Leaving Records.

Land Of Kush return with new album Sand Enigma

19 June 2019

Sam Shalabi and his orchestral ensemble Land Of Kush have conquered us a long time ago. The composer and musician has been busy with many other projects, including his trio with Maurice Louca and Alan Bishop, The Dwarfs of East Agouza, and last year´s involvement in Jerusalem In My Heart´s album as arranger and musical director. But finally there´s a new Land of Kush album in sight, six years on from the release of The Big Mango, which was one of our 15 Album Picks of 2013. Entitled Sand Enigma, the record is “Shalabi’s most acute and accomplished big-band composition to date”, describes the press release. “with the orchestra on fire as they stir up a melting pot of Arabic tropes, avant-jazz, modern classical, freaknoise, electronics and sound art.”

“Safe Space” is the first tremendous track to emerge from Sand Enigma and we can´t wait to hear more. Listen to it below and watch out for the album release on November 8th through Constellation.

Efterklang announce new album Altid Sammen

14 June 2019

Photo: Rasmus Weng Karlsen

Efterklang have been one of our favourite bands for a long time, enthralling us with their marvelous genre transcending compositions. Their latest release, Leaves – The Colour of Falling, a collaborative opera album with Karsten Fundal, was one of our Album Picks of 2016, but they hadn’t released a full-length album since 2012’s magnificent Piramida. The good news is the trio of childhood friends Mads Brauer, Casper Clausen and Rasmus Stolberg are back with a new album entitled Altid Sammen, which means “Always Together”. The album´s idea was first seeded when Antwerp-based baroque ensemble B.O.X approached Efterklang to compose material for a joint performance at a Belgian festival in January 2018. “We walked offstage feeling super-elevated,” said the trio’s Stolberg. “Let’s get into a studio and document this.”

Altid Sammen will see the light of day on September 20th though 4AD & Rumraket, but they are already enticing us with the gorgeous opening track ‘Vi er uendelig’ (“We are infinite”). The single comes with an accompanying video directed by Andreas Koefoed and featuring the band’s own Casper Clausen and Helena Christensen.

In other related good news, and in support of the upcoming album, Efterklang have announced an extensive European tour throughout this year and with several dates spilling into 2020. Kicking off on September 21st at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, the tour also includes a show at Porto´s Hard Club on October 24th. Check a full list of dates and other info here.