It would be best to acknowledge, right at the outset, that this is not the most easily grasped jazz album you are ever likely to hear. In fact, most listeners will be hard-pressed to think of it as jazz at all: we are dust under the dying sun is moved by the complex forces of sonic ...fields connecting the most diverse genres, by the work of the american minimalists, the improvisational tightness of an act like the necks as well as the purity, mournfulness and plaintive beauty of the blues. But like many things which require careful attention, it intends to repay that attention with a greater reward than you might get from music that reveals its total character the first time around.
This is 3 seconds of air's second album for tonefloat, but, against initial plans, it is not a straight-forward continuation of their flight of song debut. Manifesting itself on we are dust under the dying sun, which, again features Martina Verhoeven, Dirk Serries and Paul Van Den Berg, is a striking shift in perspective. Its most apparent harbinger is Verhoeven's bass, which has moved prominently to the foreground, considerably gained in agility and now spans a wide sonic space behind which her partners' guitars strike up a hypnotic dialogue. Far more than a mere question of production aesthetics, the decision reinforces the formation's creed that, if realised in a musical world in which all element are related to each other in an intricate way, even a seemingly puny move like the adjustment of relative dynamics can result in an entirely different listening experience. Bassist russ sargeant once described the breathtaking effect taking place when the instrument goes from being a mere harmonic support to taking on lead functions: „it's a little like opening a tightly folded piece of paper. suddenly there are so many more surfaces that become visible; more blank canvases to paint upon.“ is it any surprise that the group have always considered the art of jackson pollock one of their major influences?
3 seconds of air are constantly walking on the razor's edge.
The reflections of its blade are revealing the different characters of the band with a new sense of clarity: we are dust under the dying sun is the story of three musicians growing not just as a group, but as individuals. 3 seconds of air continue to unfold that piece of paper, slowly unrapping planes of absolute white like discoverers sailing into the unknown. something new is stirring. and as a listener, it is simply good to be in the middle of it.
"We Are Dust Under The Dying Sun" LP/CD to be released on Tonefloat.
Don't miss the free showcase!
25/3/2011 - cc Luchtbal, Columbiastraat 8, 2030 Antwerpen
www.3secondsofair.com / www.ccluchtbal.be
