Photo: Thor Salden

We’re big fans of Steiger, whose last album, The New Lady Llama, was one of our Album Picks of 2021 and remains an active favourite. So we’re over the moon to know that the Ghent trio of keyboardist Gilles Vandecaveye, bassist Kobe Boon and drummer Simon Raman are gearing to release a new album later this year titled Mowglowski’s First Take.

Over the past decade, Steiger has carved out a singular space in the Belgian jazz and improv scene, continuously shifting form and exploring disparate territories and influences through composition and improvisation. After a few years off doing their own thing — playing in various projects like Peenoise, mòs Ensemble, Uma Chine and Ivy Falls — the trio is back together, and the spark is still very much alive. As ever, Steiger are reaching for the outer fringes of jazz and drawing on minimalism, electronica, post-classical and improv, with their own sense of mischief and exploration. Where The New Lady Llama leaned into lush contrasts between acoustic and electronic textures, Mowglowski’s First Take feels freer and bolder, but still melodic and accessible. Produced by Frederik Segers (Black Flower, Fulco, De Beren Gieren), the record has a real warmth to it and it’s imbued with joy and openness in the playing. “The music radiates a joie de vivre with a good dose of humour”, as the press release describes, “but does not shy away from darkness either”.

We’ll have to wait until October 17th for the album to be out but Steiger have let loose the first single, ‘Gauchoman’, a witty, weird, and totally infectious track. If this single is anything to go by, Mowglowski’s First Take is going to be one of the most exciting releases of the year. Take a listen below.

To tide you over until the album’s release, check out the excellent guest mixtape Steiger put together for us back in August 2021.

Photo: Leon De Backer & Gerd De Kinderen

The New Lady Llama, the new album from Steiger, is getting excitingly close to release day. As with previous efforts, the Ghent trio continue to explore the outer margins of jazz, and disparate territories and influences through composition and improvisation. On the upcoming album, Steiger “aimed for compact songs and a stronger emphasis on sound exploration and an experimental production process”, explains the press release. “They completely left behind any genre limitations and in this way created an even more distinctive sound.”

After sharing the first astounding taste from it, ‘Lambda’, Steiger are teasing it again with new single ‘Absolution of a French Fry’. Take a listen below.

The New Lady Llama is out on April 9th through Sdban Ultra

We’ve been eagerly waiting for a full-length album from Steiger, after they took us by storm with their collaborative Brick Smoke Basement EP released last November. The Ghent trio of Gilles Vandecaveye, Kobe Boon and Simon Raman have now lifted the lid on its follow up, The New Lady Llama. Through composition and improvisation, Steiger continue to explore the outer margins of jazz as well as disparate territories and influences from contemporary music to electronica and pop, “yet remain faithful to the genre’s long-standing core principle; that of a flexible transformation”, as the press release describes.

We’ll have to wait until April 9th for The New Lady Llama to be out through Sdban Ultra but Steiger have already shared an astounding taste off it, ‘Lambda’. We’ve been playing it over and over again and if the single is anything to go by, we are in for a treat.