Looking for a rich, deeply melancholic distraction from the cruel month of March? Check out Polish composer Michal Jacaszek's new disc KWIATY; it's a stunner. These 11 tracks will wrap you up like a warm sweater and chase the winter cold away.
Besides serving as the soundtrack to every ill-fated crush you've ever had, it comes with a hopelessly romantic backstory. Jacaszek stumbled onto an anthology of metaphysical English poetry from the 1800s. He read the poems and reportedly heard songs. Those songs became KWIATY.
The album weds luxurious electronic ambience with exquisite vocal performances by Hania Malarowska, Joasia Sobowiec-Jamioł and Natalia Grzebała. Malarowska is the real standout here; her voice is strong, confident and at the same time genuinely plaintive. On "To Violets," her showcase, her performance is engrossing, complemented by a skilful electronic treatment of her vocals toward the end that prove a great voice will shine through any distortion.
There is an organic feel to KWIATY that few of Jacaszek's colleagues in the genre can match. The result is an album that can be taken in with the heart, the head or both at once.
(Ghostly International)Besides serving as the soundtrack to every ill-fated crush you've ever had, it comes with a hopelessly romantic backstory. Jacaszek stumbled onto an anthology of metaphysical English poetry from the 1800s. He read the poems and reportedly heard songs. Those songs became KWIATY.
The album weds luxurious electronic ambience with exquisite vocal performances by Hania Malarowska, Joasia Sobowiec-Jamioł and Natalia Grzebała. Malarowska is the real standout here; her voice is strong, confident and at the same time genuinely plaintive. On "To Violets," her showcase, her performance is engrossing, complemented by a skilful electronic treatment of her vocals toward the end that prove a great voice will shine through any distortion.
There is an organic feel to KWIATY that few of Jacaszek's colleagues in the genre can match. The result is an album that can be taken in with the heart, the head or both at once.
