Last week’s hottest news in domestic music was the release of The Sound Poets’ fourth studio album, which was celebrated in the now-forgotten presentation atmosphere at the Piens Club. This album, which is also available in tangible CD format, contains 14 songs in Latvian. It should be reminded that the soundtrack’s previous album of original songs “Three” was released in 2018.
The new album was written in 2020 and 2021, when the band gathered in several creative camps.
The joint work on creating music and lyrics resulted in the creation of about 25 compositions, and then the producer and sound engineer Gatis Zaķis started their selection.
The changes in society and interpersonal relationships that have taken place in recent years have, of course, had a great impact on the creation of the songs, “which is why the music of the new album is permeated by a desire for togetherness, a connection to fellow human beings, nature and one’s land.”
Although this is the band’s fourth studio album, the band’s soloist Jānis Aišpurs admits that the excitement, joy and feeling of celebration are not diminishing: “In a way, we have been waiting for this day for two years. The album contains 14 personal stories about how we feel and see the world around us in this strange and turbulent time, when the seemingly strange becomes strange, when the basics sway, when the truth in the sea of views is like a lonely island… And yet we still naively believe that love is the power that unites us all, that can make us good. Our music, brought together on the album “By One Fire”, is our way of telling the world. “
The composition of the band has not changed, “The Sound Poets” is still Jānis Aišpurs (vocals, keys, guitar), Normunds Lukša (guitar), Kārlis Josts (bass), Undīne Balode (cello, keys) and Pēteris Lunde (drums). A quartet of stringed instruments (violinists Otto Trapāns and Undīne Cercina, violinist Paula Kronentāle and double bassist Jānis Stafeckis), as well as four wind instrument specialists (trumpet player Gatis Gorkuša, saxophonist Kristaps Lubovs, thrombist)
The visual design of the album has been created by artist Madara Kvēpa and graphic designer Ingus Sproģis. Madara says that the visual design of the album is created in close contact with the music, listening to it again and again. “During the process, I learned almost all the lyrics by heart. It was very important for me to create a design that would be an organic extension of the music created by The Sound Poets. The visual solution uses analogue photographs taken by me, which I supplemented with handwritten handwritten texts. The goal was to create a diary of memories of a warm summer evening, where you are with nature, your loved ones, with an open heart and a light spirit. ”
It remains to mention that in honor of the release of the album, the band invites listeners to special concerts, which will take place on June 10 in Liepaja, at the renewed concert work “Pūt, vējiņi!”, And on June 18 in Sigulda, at the castle ruins stage.
BY. Quite a nice and appealing album, at least the audience of “soundpoints” will like it. It is good that the songs included in it have not been played on radio stations to the point of nausea, and even the title song, which seems to have been heard a long time ago, actually had its premiere at the “Music Bank” only in the last days of January this year. The second single is the energetic piece “Ritual” – a good choice that sounds even better in “live”, when Pēteris Lunde gives it his strict and concrete touch in front of all eyes. In turn, the third and probably the most important single will be a bit hymny “Touch Sensitive”, the singing of which in concerts could bring thousands of listeners together.
The viewer would definitely highlight the songs “Not everything is written in the stars” with a good lyrical message (“I’m not afraid to sail in storms and dark nights / I’m not afraid to get ashore not yet on the map / Not everything is written in the stars”) and “Ritual” immediately following ” Somewhere between the planets, ”which well continues the energetic line of the single. An extra point about the lyrics that the musicians have created together – they create a desire to go deeper and think (example – “Non-standard project”). Also – fantastic strings and Undine’s cello.
PRICE. There are no less strange and objectionable things about this album that are commendable and noteworthy. Somewhere in the middle, the “soundpoints” decide to be melodic, lyrical and long, and offer a series of songs that are almost identical in their moods and start to get tired to the point – “Hold me tighter”, “Flowing”, “Come lie down in the hall next to me ”,“ Across Borders ”. The introductory song “Breathe”, which is less than two minutes long, can also be seen as an intro, but at the moment when you want to praise The Sound Poets for the very beautiful ending of the album in the form of “While You Come”, its end is suddenly drawn almost four minutes (!) longer than necessary – you can check with a stopwatch, it would be a great end to the album if the song ends in five minutes instead of “8:22″… And yet – if a good and talented musician marries an excellent bright singer, it does not mean that they should immediately start singing in the duo – Jānis Aišpurs and Aija Andrejeva’s joint song “It’s easier together” would not be called successful.
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