Great Expectations
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Great Expectations is the name of the new (spring 2021) album of Zwerm, percussion player Karen Willems and producer Rudy Trouvé
11 03 21: (postponed) release concert Great Expectations STUK, Leuven 18 03 21: (postponed) 'Great Expectations' deSingel, Antwerpen (Bouge B Festival) 21 03 21: (postponed) 'Great Expectations' gevangenis Antwerpen ism De Rode Antraciet 29 03 21: (livestream) 'Great Expectations' De Handelsbeurs, Gent 27 05 21: release concert Great Expectations STUK, Leuven full album in your local shop on April 2nd 2021 |
Zwerm's brand new album Great Expectations will be released in spring 2021!
The route that Zwerm has taken is often defined by the question “What if... ?” - like a dart thrown at a musical map, not quite blindly, but naive enough to lead to unexpected endings. “What if we play Renaissance pieces written by John Dowland, but instead of playing lutes we play these tunes with a Telecaster – and then jam it through effect pedals and an amplifier?” “What if we connect one hundred guitar pedals and just leave our guitars at home?” In 2020 our metaphorical dart landed on “What if we tried micro-tonality?”.
On the continents where Western musical theory is less stringently applied, micro-tonality is the rule, and has become the subject of many deep and thoughtfully written theories. However for Zwerm, this phenomenon occurs in many, often surprisingly lighthearted forms. A dilapidated piano that has settled into a beautiful micro-tonal tuning of its own accord, enthusiastic choral singing, a guitar whose three strings are tuned a quarter-tone higher, a saz (Turkish quarter-tone lute), a maddening guitar pedal, ...
“And... what if we work with a drummer?” Enter Karen Willems - dummer, extraordinaire, and ardent player in groups, projects and collaborations galore. One chance meeting and the deal was done. It was obvious before the start that Willems was the versatile and creative percussionist-in-a-toy-store necessary for this project. At the reins behind the scenes was producer Rudy Trouvé. Completing the team were Mark Dedecker (recording) and Joris Calluwaerts (mixing).
The results are in and it’s called ‘ Great Expectations’ – a title that, in several ways, fits perfectly with these strange 2021 times. ‘Great Expectations’ goes wide! Zwerm is at its best when it can run along the borders between style and across traditions that otherwise would not necessarily intersect. The most straightforward rockers have a proggy tinge while the dreamy psychedelic songs lean more toward Richard Youngs. ‘Heavy Machinery’ sits neatly somewhere between Captain Beefheart and Richard Wagner, and ‘On My Way To Aguno’, set to an Iranian folk song chord progression, grew into a hyper personal lullaby. Zwerm used the saz and the sinter (Moroccan gnawa bass instrument) without falling into pastiche psychedelia, but you can still sense the orient.
link to lyrics ‘Great Expectations'
text: Stijn Buyst (shortened version)
translation: Thomas Moore
The route that Zwerm has taken is often defined by the question “What if... ?” - like a dart thrown at a musical map, not quite blindly, but naive enough to lead to unexpected endings. “What if we play Renaissance pieces written by John Dowland, but instead of playing lutes we play these tunes with a Telecaster – and then jam it through effect pedals and an amplifier?” “What if we connect one hundred guitar pedals and just leave our guitars at home?” In 2020 our metaphorical dart landed on “What if we tried micro-tonality?”.
On the continents where Western musical theory is less stringently applied, micro-tonality is the rule, and has become the subject of many deep and thoughtfully written theories. However for Zwerm, this phenomenon occurs in many, often surprisingly lighthearted forms. A dilapidated piano that has settled into a beautiful micro-tonal tuning of its own accord, enthusiastic choral singing, a guitar whose three strings are tuned a quarter-tone higher, a saz (Turkish quarter-tone lute), a maddening guitar pedal, ...
“And... what if we work with a drummer?” Enter Karen Willems - dummer, extraordinaire, and ardent player in groups, projects and collaborations galore. One chance meeting and the deal was done. It was obvious before the start that Willems was the versatile and creative percussionist-in-a-toy-store necessary for this project. At the reins behind the scenes was producer Rudy Trouvé. Completing the team were Mark Dedecker (recording) and Joris Calluwaerts (mixing).
The results are in and it’s called ‘ Great Expectations’ – a title that, in several ways, fits perfectly with these strange 2021 times. ‘Great Expectations’ goes wide! Zwerm is at its best when it can run along the borders between style and across traditions that otherwise would not necessarily intersect. The most straightforward rockers have a proggy tinge while the dreamy psychedelic songs lean more toward Richard Youngs. ‘Heavy Machinery’ sits neatly somewhere between Captain Beefheart and Richard Wagner, and ‘On My Way To Aguno’, set to an Iranian folk song chord progression, grew into a hyper personal lullaby. Zwerm used the saz and the sinter (Moroccan gnawa bass instrument) without falling into pastiche psychedelia, but you can still sense the orient.
link to lyrics ‘Great Expectations'
text: Stijn Buyst (shortened version)
translation: Thomas Moore
all music on Great Expectations has been written & played by Zwerm & Karen Willems and arranged by Zwerm, Karen Willems & Rudy Trouvé
all lyrics by Bruno Nelissen, except No Questions No Lies, lyrics by Charles Dickens
Great Expectations is produced by Rudy Trouvé and recorded on tape by Mark Dedecker at Studio Finster, Antwerp, november 2020
mixed by Joris Caluwaerts
artwork by Rudy Trouvé
lay out by Thomas Noppe
mastered by Uwe Teichert
NEWS DISTRIBUTION
with the support of the Flemish Government,
in coproduction with STUK - Huis voor Dans, Beeld & Geluid and deSingel and many thanks to Cohort & Werkplaats Walter
copyright Time Goes By 2021
Wat een geluid, wat een energie, wat een ideeënrijkdom. Fantastische plaat.
What a sound, what an energy, what a rich imagination. Fantastic record.
De Standaard ★★★★ - about Zwerm's previous album Badminton In Tehran
Wie bands als The Ex kan smaken of, pakweg, de platen op avantgardelabel Unsounds, aarzelt niet!
Those who can appreciate bands like The Ex, or records of, say, the Unsounds label, don't hesitate!
De Morgen - about Zwerm's previous album Badminton In Tehran
