Band: Distance Light & Sky
Album: Gold Coast
VÖ: 02.11.2018
Label/Vertrieb: Glitterhouse / Indigo
Bandwebsite: https://de-de.facebook.com/distancelightandsky/
„It's not clear who provides the distance, the light, or the sky in this collaboration between Chris Eckman (of The Walkabouts), Chantal Acda (Sleepingdog, True Bypass) and avant jazz percussionist Eric Thielemans (of EARR Ensemble), but the trio is beautifully balanced“ schrieb das britische Uncut Magazin über das Debütalbum “Casting Nets” (Glitterhouse Records, 2014). „This is a low-key beautiful record; hushed and patient, it waits for the listener to take it into their heart“ titelte Americana UK in seiner Februar Ausgabe von 2015 und das Rolling Stone Magazin beschrieb die Musik des Trios als “raumgreifend schöne Folk-Songs” und vergab 4 von 5 Punkten.
Das neue Album “Gold Coast” hat eine Menge mit seinem Vorgänger gemeinsam, wie Chris Eckman weiß: „We again recorded the album with our friend Phill Brown at Sono Studios outside of Prague. Phill has one of the most incredible recording histories of anyone from the rock music era, having been involved with records by The Rolling Stones, Bob Marley, Roxy Music, Talk Talk (yes, the classic “late period” ones), Beth Gibbons and many more. He also worked with The Walkabouts on two albums and more recently on Chantal’s last solo album “Bounce Back.” Phill has a wonderful ability to bring space and texture into his recordings. He places microphones in magical spots and searches for unexpected ambient sounds that beautifully compliment the material. We wanted to work together again at Sono Studios because not only do we all feel comfortable there, but the large (though still warm) recording space provides plenty of options for sonic exploration. For example, the room has a grainy, ethereal reverberance that almost provides an extra instrument to the ensemble. We felt that we hadn’t exhausted the ideas that such a studio provides and so we enthusiastically returned.“
Zeitlos und erhaben kommen die neun atemberaubenden Songs auf 'Gold Coast' daher: “We recorded the tracks with all three of us playing and singing at the same time. We left the expressive qualities of the performances as they were, embracing irregularities and spontaneous decisions and so-called mistakes. We didn’t make digital intrusions. A few elements were added later, but the basic triangle of Eric, Chantal and myself was left mostly uncorrupted. Much more than on the first album, we thought of the band as a single entity, a single voice. Chantal wrote lyrics and music for me to sing and I did the same for her and the songs found their essence only after being arranged and buoyed by Eric’s drums“ sagt Chris Eckman.
Die Songs auf 'Gold Coast' sind von Melancholie getragen, wirken aber niemals hoffnungslos: “While there is a distinct melancholy to most of these songs, there is certainly not a sense of resignation” sagt Chris, “these are songs of community, both in how they were fashioned and in the emotions they ultimately embrace. The narrators are like most of us in these times, whittled down by chaos and disappointment, but still not about to be broken. The search is still alive. The embrace is still strong. The fight is still there“ führt er aus.
Bio: In unserer schnelllebigen, digitalen Zeit heben sich Distance, Light & Sky wohltuend von der Masse ab. Sie sind eine Band, eine Einheit. Zu Chris Eckman gesellen sich die unglaublich talentierte niederländisch/belgische Sängerin und Songschreiberin Chantal Acda, die mit den Isbells, aber auch solo bereits für diverse Highlights gesorgt hat. Ihr aktuelles Album 'Live at Jazz Middelheim' zusammen mit Bill Frisell erschien 2018 auf Glitterhouse. Abgerundet und zum Trio wird Distance, Light & Sky durch den klassisch ausgebildeten belgischen Percussionisten und Komponisten Eric Thielemans, Insidern durch das EARR Ensemble (Ensemble Artist Repertoire Research) oder seine Zusammenarbeit mit dem legendären Sun Ra Saxofonisten Marshall Allen durchaus nicht unbekannt.
Distance, Light & Sky 'Gold Coast' erscheint am 12. Oktober auf Glitterhouse Records gefolgt von einer ausgedehnten Europatournee.
