Leśne Duchy

Artists

Album Info

Release Date: 2023-06-23

Labels: The Very Polish Cut-Outs, Superkasety Records

After nearly 3 years since the release of their debut album "ETNOBOTANIKA," they return with "Leśne Duchy" ("Forest Spirits"). This is another album from the duo from Silesia, released in collaboration between Superkasety Records and The Very Polish Cut Outs. It still carries the rhythms from the dusty green cassette, but this time it seems like the two producers found it not in a garden plot, but rather somewhere in the depths under a thick layer of moss. Spirituality and nostalgia still play important roles, but they no longer take center stage. Instead, associations with primal magic, wild groves, and unspoken mysteries come to the forefront. The atmosphere enveloped in these tracks is the key to understanding this album.

Of course, one could mention that sonically the producers once again touch upon dubtechno, ambient, and sampled collages. However, these genre clichés are merely tools stemming from the individual inspirations and experiences of Alergeek and Uwdar (the two halves of ETNOBOTANIKA) and are used to build the appropriate atmosphere, rather than confine "Leśne Duchy" within the narrow framework of club music or trip-hop. If one were to label this album, it could perhaps be described as illustrative music. Once again, we are presented with a healthy dose of sound samples from the past (including Polish films, series, and animations), but this time the atmosphere is slightly different from the debut album – more serious, perhaps slightly darker, and certainly more diverse.

This is evident in the titles of the tracks - "Śladami Wilka" ("In the Footsteps of the Wolf"), "Czarownice" ("Witches"), "Bagna" ("Marshes"), "Najstarsze Drzewo Świata" ("The Oldest Tree in the World"). The entire auditory experience (with sounds of birds and water audible on the album, and a frequent appearance of "wooden" rimshots within the tracks) and the visual design (handled by Aleksandra Simińska), along with the aforementioned track names, transport the listener into the heart of the most primal forest, enchanted and full of spirits, reminiscent of Studio Ghibli films. In this way, the Silesian duo follows in the footsteps of long-standing Polish bands such as Osjan, Kwartet Jorgi, and Atman. One could even venture to say that "Leśne Duchy" would fit well in the catalog of Obuh Records alongside Księżyc or Za Siódmą Górą. However, the presence of Materny or Manna's voices heard sporadically throughout the album, the mischievous ghost-sprites on the cover, and the invitation of the only guest - DJ Duch (wink wink) - remind us that it's not all entirely serious.

The atmosphere of this album is paramount, but just like in Korean cinema where even the heaviest horror is not devoid of humor, here we are also presented with lighter moments, suitable for humming or even dancing (such as the phenomenal "Czarownice" or the breakbeat-driven "Śladami Wilka"). With 80 minutes of music spread across two vinyl records and a cassette tape, it's a substantial amount of time, but thanks to the diversity of moods, ETNOBOTANIKA ensures that there is never a dull moment. Sometimes it playfully leads us into the forest, sometimes it spooks us a bit, but ultimately, everything ends well, and we don't even have a chance to realize that we wandered through the green groves for over an hour... and we want to go back there again and again.