Artist: Martin Küchen / Sophie Agnel
Title: Detour Tunnels of Light
Label: Thanatosis Production
Cat nr: THT24
Format: CD
Style: Impro/Jazz
Tracklist:
1. Fem Cinq 08:58
2. The Gould Passage 08:22
3. Fyra Quatre 08:42
4. Två Deux 08:58
“Having expectations and then being pleasantly disabused of those expectations.
In my experience listening to the music of both Martin Küchen and Sophie Agnel, I’ve often detected what I perceive to be a (sometimes hidden) strain of romanticism, a deep and dark vaguely lyrical content that one doesn’t routinely identify with free improvisers. With Küchen, this could be heard most prominently in his solo recordings such as ‘The Lie and the Orphanage’ (Mathka, 2010) or ‘Hellstorm’ (Mathka, 2012). I had also heard Agnel give a memorable solo piano recital in Västerås, Sweden in 2012 where the closest comparison I could think of (not really that close) was to some of the music of Fredric Rzewski. So I came into this release with some of those expectations in mind.
But no. Instead we have four pieces, each one a quiet, even delicate exploration of sound, combining gently probing piano passages, including relatively fragile sounds from within the instrument to soft, if perhaps forlorn and even strangulated moans from the reeds. The soundscape created is sparse in one sense but really quite well populated with “small”, beautifully related objects, bits that reflect off of one another in a manner that implies seriously deep listening on the part of both musicians. A lovely, thoughtful set all around, one that happily upset my expectations.”
– Brian Olewnick.
Martin Küchen: Sopranino saxophone, percussions, electronics.
Sophie Agnel: Piano, objects.
Music by Martin Küchen & Sophie Agnel.
Recorded at Borlunda Church, Eslöv, February 16-17, 2022.
Recorded and mixed by Ola Rubin.
Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi.
Cover photo: Nils Strindberg (1897). Tekniska museets arkiv.
Design by Michell Zethson, finalized by Hampus Andersson and Pål Olofsson.
Video by Leo Küchen
Artists would like to thank: Ann-Margreth Nyberg, Ola Rubin, Maria Küchen, Alex Zethson, Glenn Gould, J.S Bach.
Executive producer: Alex Zethson.
