We have been eagerly waiting for a new album from Esmerine since their 2013 glorious and wonderful Dalmak, which was one of our Album Picks of the Year. Fortunately, news of their fifth full-length emerged last month. The Montréal chamber rock ensemble will release their new effort, Lost Voices, on October 16th via Constellation.
The label describes the album as “the most dynamic and incendiary record of the group’s career”, adding that it is “cerebral and visceral, controlled and volatile, and wholly cinematic in scope throughout.”.
Lost Voices sees Esmerine expand their core line-up, with the addition of bassist Jeremi Roy, who had been a touring member since 2013. The album was recorded by Vid Cousins (Kid Koala, Amon Tobin, Colin Stetson) and it was mixed and produced by Jace Lasek (The Besnard Lakes). Cousins and Lasek are also two of the stellar contributors guesting on some of the album tracks, alongside Godspeed You! Black Emperor/Thee Silver Mt. Zion violinist Sophie Trudeau, Colin Stetson and James Hakan Dedeoglu, amongst others.
The first taste from the album comes in the shape of ‘The Neighbourhoods Rise’, the monumental opening track. Here it is.

Esmerine‘s glorious and wonderful fourth album, Dalmak, came out last September. In support of the album, the Canadian quartet are embarking on a two-week European tour, starting in Utrecht on November 29th at Le Guess Who? Festival. The UK leg of the tour includes shows in Bristol, Brighton, Sheffield, Colchester and London. Check all the tour dates and other info here.
This tour will see Esmerine’s core line-up expanded as they’ll be joined by 3 additional guest players on Turkish strings and percussion instruments, including Hakan Vreskala who had also helped to record Dalmak in Istambul.
To tease the upcoming tour, Esmerine have unveiled a trailer. Check it out below, and to entice you further, listen to ‘Barn Board Fire’ straight after, one of the magnificent cuts off Dalmak. Go to see them live if you can, they will shine.

Dalmak is out now via Constellation.

Esmerine have a new album coming out on September 3rd via Constellation. Dalmak, their fourth full-length album, takes its name from the Turkish verb meaning to dive into, to contemplate, to lose oneself in, to be absorbed in, to bathe in, to plummet. The Turkish presence and influence on the album goes beyond the name. Esmerine, now comprising co-founder and cellist Rebecca Foon (Saltland, Silver Mt. Zion, Set Fire To Flames), former Godspeed You! Black Emperor drummer Bruce Cawdron on marimba, percussionist Jamie Thompson (Unicorns, Islands) and multi-instrumentalist Brian Sanderson, recorded most of Dalmak in Istambul. After their European tour in 2011 and 2012 with stops in the city, the group was invited over for an artist residency, where they were joined by another four Turkish guest players, Hakan Vreskala, Baran Aşık, Ali Kazim Akdağ and James Hakan Dedeoğlu on various instruments, including some unknown to us like bendir, darbuka, erbane, meh, barama and saz.

The album’s press release describes Dalmak as “a tour-de-force of cross-cultural music-making, emotive but unsentimental, deeply textured and detailed but never precious, superbly guided throughout by a balance of DIY rock, new folk and modern classical/contemporary sensibilities.”

Barkin Engin and Metin Bozkurt initially recorded the album in Istanbul, and later in Montréal, Jace Lasek (Wolf Parade, The Besnard Lakes, Suuns) and Ian Ilavsky achieved “the album’s gorgeously saturated warmth, depth and pulsing grit”.

Esmerine have shared an edit of the outstanding ‘Translator’s Clos II’, the first taste from the album. Enjoy.