Staff Reviews

Szun Waves - New Hymn to Freedom

Review by Benjamin Bland

Ultimately it is very much the beauty of New Hymn to Freedom that really makes it stand out»

Buy now from:

New Hymn To Freedom is the second album by Szun Waves. Szun Waves are prolific electronic producer Luke Abbott, Portico Quartet sax player Jack Wyllie and Australian percussion master Laurence Pike. Sometimes in improvised music there can be a distance between listener and players, a sense you’re sitting back and admiring their interplay and abstraction – but with Szun Waves’ second album, you’re right in there with them, inside the playing, experiencing the absolute joy the three musicians feel as they circle around each other, exploring the spaces they’ve opened up. The three members already have sparkling pedigrees of their own. Norfolk’s Luke Abbott is well known for his explorations of the zones between pure ambience and the leftmost fringes of club culture. With Portico Quartet and Circle Traps, Jack Wyllie has been in the vanguard of UK fusions of jazz, classical and club music. Australian drummer Laurence Pike has likewise found a unique voice in improvised and experimental music-making, whether in the bands Triosk or PVT, or as a solo artist. The trio’s musical relationship has grown naturally and steadily, and it shows. From Wyllie adding shimmering sustained sax notes to Abbott’s gorgeous ambient pieces in 2013, Szun Waves emerged when Pike was added to the mix, energising the sound but still keeping its levitational qualities. Their 2016 self- released debut album hit a natural groove, and now they’re in a place of pure spontaneity: New Hymn To Freedom is a document of six entirely live improvisations – “no edits or overdubs” – and its title couldn’t be more apt. For fans of James Holden, Floating Points, Rival Consoles, Don Cherry, Suzanne Ciani, Polar Bear, Nils Frahm, Mark Pritchard, Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Cluster, Pantha Du Prince and Four Tet.
description from www.roughtrade.com