With a singular style, BeraadGeslagen are an integral part of the thriving Belgium jazz scene. The duo of drummer Lander Gyselinck (STUFF., LABtrio) and keyboardist/singer Fulco Ottervanger (De Beren Gieren) are gearing up to release a new full-length album this autumn. Entitled Altijd Bewust Bewegen, the effort arrives on October 27th through W.E.R.F. Records. More details are yet to emerge but BeraadGeslagen have already given aglimpse at what to expect with the first wildand exhilarating single, ‘Tennisles’. Take a listen below.
Principio del Fuego is the debut studio EP from Fuensanta, released at the tail end of June through GroundUp Music. Hailing from Veracruz, Mexico, and now based in Amsterdam, she is a brilliant singer, double bassist, composer, improviser and multidisciplinary artist who has collaborated with some incredible artists including Louis Cole, Han Bennink, Ben van Gelder, Genevieve Artadi, Reinier Baas, Aaron Parks, Sun Mi Hong, Tineke Postma, Ben Wendel, Kit Downes, Sanem Kalfa, Teis Semey, Joris Roelofs, Nawras Altaky and Magalí Datzira. Speaking about her Principio del Fuego EP, Fuensanta says:
“I thought this is what the EP could be called, “Principio del Fuego”, which translates to ‘beginning of the fire’ but also ‘principle of fire’. Because to me this is a collection of studio versions of some of my first songs and they feel like a small capsule of my early visions of the world and music since I found my own way of writing.
The topics somehow revolve around the transition from childhood to adulthood, and I feel that these songs are very charged with the universe and symbols of my upbringing in the forest in Mexico, from the perspective of my first years in the Netherlands.
In a way, the whole thing feels somewhat like a short love letter to the magic realism of my childhood and that place, these compositions I played so much and what they meant to me during the last years, and the closure of an era.”
For an intriguing and beguiling taster of what’s on offer, here’s the video for one of the EP´s tracks, ‘No Será Regresar’.
The wait is nearly over and the highly anticipated new album from Penguin Cafe, Rain Before Seven…, will see the light of day tomorrow through Erased Tapes. Ahead of it, the ensemble of Arthur Jeffes is ramping up the excitement with ‘Welcome To London’, the final single from the album. Jeffes explains how the track came about:
“for this track I started with the piano riff which is a 5/4 pattern moving through developing modulations – all the other elements are picking out points in the piano line and developing them. We ended up going quite John Barry with the arrangements – I love that 60’s feel of the Gretsch picking out a low-mid groove while the bassline syncopates underneath it.”
‘Welcome To London’ comes paired with a video directed by Mihai Feflea. Of the video, executive producer Robert Raths comments:
“this video is dedicated to those who feel lost in a place like London and yet make it their home. As someone who moved here from a different country nearly two decades ago, I couldn’t help but read the title with a healthy portion of sarcasm. I thought our penguin-headed friend would make for the perfect protagonist here. Writing this script also gave me an opportunity to finally visualise Simon Jeffes’ original vision he had of the Penguin Cafe as a magical haven within the concrete jungle when he hallucinated from fish poisoning back in 1972 — something I’ve always wondered why it hadn’t been done before. Because no matter how tough and fast-paced London life can be sometimes, it also contains many pockets of diverse beauty and wonder.”
Watch the video for ‘Welcome To London’ below and grab the album tomorrow.
Back in May Yussef Dayes announced the release of his debut solo album, Black Classical Music. A nineteen-track album, it saw the renowned and gifted multi-instrumentalist enlist a stellar cast of guest contributors, including Charlie Stacey, Venna, Alexander Bourt, Chronixx, Masego, Jamilah Barry, Tom Misch, Elijah Fox, Shabaka Hutchings, Miles James, Sheila Maurice Grey, Nathaniel Cross, Theon Cross, and the Chineke! Orchestra.
After enticing us with the title track, Dayes has recently shared a second cut from the album called Rust, featuring British singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Tom Misch. ‘Rust’ is offered with an animated accompanying video directed and designed by Jack Brown. Speaking about it, Brown comments:
“It felt really special to work with Yussef and Tom again to make the third instalment of our animation saga and extra special to do it for Yussef’s incredible debut album. I wanted to expand the world of Nightrider and Tidal Wave by bringing it into a 3D space while maintaining the classic 2D feel. This was made possible by the big brain, super talented Richard Noble who built these landscapes from my silly sketches. Big love to the small crew of dedicated and talented people who worked on this and to Yussef and Tom for consistently making the best sounding music out there.”
Black Classical Music is out on September 8th through Brownswood Recordings, Warners and Cashmere Thoughts Recordings and in the US through Nonesuch Records. Now watch the video below.
Composer, artist and Room40 founder Lawrence English and interdisciplinary artist, composer and improviser Lea Bertucci are both prolific and gifted experimentalists. The pair met at a festival in Rio de Janeiro in 2019 and began to collaborate remotely, with the onset of the pandemic in 2020. A debut collaborative album titled Chthonic is now on the way. English has shared his thoughts about their collaboration:
“Lea and I met in Rio de Janeiro, we had both been invited to perform a special set of field recordings and site-specific sound on a small island in the middle of one of Rio’s larger public parks. I was very struck by Lea’s approaches to sound, specifically to her ways of contrasting particular qualities in sound she had collected across the city during her residency. Our billing together there seemed like a natural fit and I am positive some of the earliest ideas for a possible recording started there. Throughout the course of our long-distance exchange, I found myself always digging deeper into the sound world we were creating. It was a sense of excavation, seeking things that just sat underneath the first impression of the sounds. Between that and our conversations around sound pressure and density, I think this record took on a form of its own very quickly.”
Chthonic will see the light of day on August 11th through American Dreams and we can already get a bewildering taster of it with the first single ‘Geology of Fire’. Take a listen below.
A year on from the release of Active Imagination, Will Samson has announced the release of his seventh full-length album. Entitled Harp Swells, it marks his first full-length ambient album and is set for release on September 8th through Taylor Deupree’s experimental label 12k. Now based In Portugal, the British musician composed the upcoming album in Almada in the sea facing studio space he shares with Casper Clausen (Efterklang). Speaking about it, Samson comments:
“There was one main goal when making Harp Swells: make music that flows and feels just like the view outside the studio window.
If frustration or creative blocks arose, I’d take a short break to watch the waves, and then return to the music.”
Ahead of the album release, Samson is enticing us with the immersive, serene and stunning first single, ‘And Yet’, featuring vocals from Maia Nunes and longtime collaborator Michael Feuerstack. Of the track and collaboration, Samson says:
“Maia (Nunes) was a visiting artist resident where I recorded the album & so we would occasionally share a cup of tea during breaks. After having a conversation about our mixed ancestries and how they had often led to subtle feelings of displacement, I returned to my studio and the lyrics appeared. That one sentence was enough to capture how I was feeling (and still feel these days) and so there was nothing more that need to be said. In fact, the lyrics seemed to perfectly capture the mood of the whole album for me.
I was experimenting with sampling during this period, so the sound that begins the track is myself blowing into an empty glass bottle.”
‘And Yet’ comes with an accompanying video created by Daisy Moseley and you can watch it below.
In other related good news, and in support of Harp Swells, Will Samson has announced a string of live shows in the UK / Europe. The tour kicks off in Antwerp on September 6th wrapping in Paris on November 18th and includes a show in Porto on September 16th. Tickets are on sale now for most shows, head over to willsamson.co.uk/shows for more info.
