in brief
07.10.2021

Dæmoner i køjen

Hôy La: »There’s a Girl Inside My Brain Who Wants to Die«
Hôy La. © Petra Kleis
Hôy La. © Petra Kleis

There is a girl inside my brain who wants to die er ikke en titel, der ligefrem leder en i en munter retning. Men helt Billie Eilish-cover-dystert bliver det nu aldrig, selvom vi er tæt på flere steder. Hôy Las kompositioner spænder fra det minimale og elektroniske til mødet mellem insisterende beats og freejazz-saxofoner og helt til de low-key poppede numre – og alt dette når vi at opleve indenfor de første tre numre. 

Centralt står Hôy Las stemme, filtreret som om hun kommunikerede med os gennem radioen. Nogle gange synger stemmen, andre gange taler den eller messer. Det er aldrig stemmen, der kommer med de store overraskelser eller de vilde spring, men hun har en fantastisk kontrol. Aldrig har en stemme så roligt fortalt om dæmonen i sengen.

Hôy Las skiftende brug af elektroniske og akustiske instrumenter, og de pludselige beats, der i tide og utide får lov at afbryde, får mig til at tænke på den fragmentariske hukommelse, man bevarer efter en traumatisk hændelse. Men værket indeholder også håb og erkendelse. Måske er det endda traumebearbejdelse gennem artpop? De poppede numre og sektioner bliver stærkere og stærkere mod slutningen – ligesom teksterne bliver mere udtalte om de rædsler, der flygtes fra. 

© Alicja Rzepa/Sacrum Profanum
»Music helps me feel, process and regulate my emotions, giving them an outlet when I need release and bringing me calm when I need balance – it’s sort of my outsourced nervous system.«
 
Krzysztof Pietraszewski is a music journalist, editor and curator based in Kraków, Poland. Since 2016, he has served as artistic director of Sacrum Profanum, a festival dedicated to new and experimental music. He hosts Muzykoteka and the RKK Live concert rebroadcast series on Radio Kraków Kultura. He also develops listening sessions with discussions, inviting audiences to discover unfamiliar music, exchange impressions and experience listening as a shared activity. His work includes executive-producing recordings for the Sacrum Profanum Archives series. Originally from Silesia, he has made Kraków his home, sharing music through concerts, radio broadcasts, writing and, more recently, experimental DJ sets.
 
 
 
© PR

»For me, music is at its best when it appeals to both the head and the heart. I love music that plays with language and understands how words create images, while also possessing its own unique sonic quality and mood. It’s an added bonus if the music energizes me during a run, makes me dance in the kitchen, or makes me laugh. Or cry. Music can be like a chocolate-coated marshmallow treat with a surprise inside.« 

Lone Hørslev is an author of poetry, novels, and song lyrics, as well as the TV series Den gode stemning. Together with Mads Mouritz, she forms one half of the Mouritz/Hørslev Project, and she recently wrote lyrics for the musical theatre production STOLT in collaboration with Katrine Muff. The songs can be found on the album Jeg ønsker mig.

© Sam Aebi
»I think music is just the way I perceive and process the world.«
 
Raphael Loher is a pianist and composer based in Lucerne, Switzerland who combines elements of experimental electronic music, ambient, and minimalist composition. His distinct, crystalline work explores playful reduction and rhythmic abstraction, aiming to create singular resonances and aesthetic connections. His meditative style of piano playing allows shimmering rhizomatic structures to emerge, giving rise to tense narrative arcs. Loher expands his sound spectrum by preparing the piano, using effect pedals, and working with a tape recorder.
 
Loher’s new album Figuren (Präsens Editionen) is an album shaped by intuition, experimentation, and a deliberate distance from his primary instrument — the piano. Reworking intimate concert recordings made during a residency, Loher deconstructed selected melodies, tones, and resonances into new forms, transforming them further through tape manipulation. 
© PR

»For us, music is... magic? Aside from the fact that we are huge fans of silence, the closing line of one of our upcoming singles perfectly captures our relationship with music: 

'Music feels like magic to me / A superior art form in a marketplace / Trying to find an empty space'. 

That is what it can feel like as a songwriter and performing musician. We try to hold onto an almost childlike infatuation with music, yet the art form we work in – alternative-leaning pop-rock – was created and has evolved 'in a marketplace' driven by powerful economic forces. As a romantic, that can sometimes be a bit disheartening...«

Late Runner consists of Asger Tarpgaard and Tanja Forsberg Simonsen, both formerly of the bands Superheroes and Private.

© PR
© PR

It was officially confirmed only recently that Icelandic avant-garde star Björk is visiting Bielsko-Biała today. After keeping it under wraps until the last moment, the organizers of the Wędrujący Festiwal (Wandering Festival) have revealed that Björk is the artist closing out the festival's grand finale.