New Hymn to Freedom
Even after a couple of albums, the instrumental combo known as Szun Waves still sounds unknowable. British producer Luke Abbott’s synthesizers have a dreamlike quality, and Australian drummer Laurence Pike (Triosk, PVT) conveys the immediacy of a live jazz room, with Londoner Jack Wyllie’s saxophone hovering in mysterious, melodic spaces between. That strangely organic mix, wholly improvised, is everywhere on *New Hymn to Freedom*: the whirring, whooshing feedback squalls of “Fall Into Water,” the noisy, interactive tumult of “High Szun,” the loose swing feel and soprano sax chants of “Temple,” and the lonesome synth meditation of “Moon Runes.” On the longest piece, the closing title track, the trio explore blurred zones between jazz and experimental electronic music, easing gradually into tempo from the primordial haze.
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 – it was a “proof of concept” as Abbott says – 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.
Luke Abbott’s synth/sax/drums trio illustrates the links between London’s fertile jazz scene and longstanding psychedelic traditions in six vibrant, unedited improvisations.
Wild Nothing returns to glorious form on Indigo, while Danny Brown and the Bruiser Brigade Reign Supreme on their Twitch-only stream, and jazz improvisers Szun Waves conjure a bright New Hymn To Freedom. Plus: the latest from Thou, Troye Sivan, Big Red Machine, and Muncie Girls.
New Hymn to Freedom is that rarest of things: an improvised album that sounds so perfect, you’d think it was all planned
Producer and synthesizer player Luke Abbott, drummer Laurence Pike, and saxophonist Jack Wyllie take a step farther out for their second album as Szun Waves.
The unhurried, heady jams on Szun Waves' - Luke Abbott, Jack Wyllie and Laurence Pike - second album find power at the microcosmic level.