PHINX – Hòltzar

“Hòltzar” is an hermetic and enigmatic work where the timbre testing is the pivotal element, carefully searched amongst chirurgical electronic parts and dusty, real natural sounds. The new album has been conceived in a mountain hut and later registered and produced in house, in a garage, in a garden and other unusual locations, making use of all available spaces and rooms to recover their different sound features. A good part of the real sounds, recorded during some travels, have also become part of the music composi t ions themselves: tree branches as snare drums, cicadas as charleston, rocks as mallets, noises as pad. An extensive use was made of Indian musical instruments, purchased in person in West Bengal and Rajasthan formed the foundations upon which many tracks of “Hòltzar” were arranged and took their final shape. The whole creative production was processed by using electronic and technical instruments of granular synthesis, reverberated and distorted. Electronics in Phinx’s latest work is employed and tested through samplings from old vinyls with the additional impact of sounds from analogic synthesizers. No use of artificial editing and auto-tuning was made with analogic drums, guitars and voices, choosing instead to interact with imperfections and noises. Lyrics in the album mainly originate from literary compositions, while its title “Hòltzar”, together with two out of the twelve tracks in the album are in Cimbrian, an ancient tongue, currently almost unspoken, which used to be the language of populations settled in enclaves around the Asiago mountain plateau, in Northern Italy. One of the main features of this old, ethnic language, possibly originating from Southern Germany lands, is to link a sound typical of Northern Europe with a grammar close to the Italian’s one and to the vernacular spoken in Veneto and Trentino Alto Adige regions in Northern Italy. Phinx’s latest release is enriched by some featuring including artists from the independent Italian and international music scenery as in the track “Not for Animals”, performed in couple with Russian/Swiss singer Ekat Bork, or in “Kubla Khan” track where rhymes are by the crew Reanimation Squad. Additionally, strings arrangement in “Trolls” has been composed and recorded by Bologna Violenta, while trumpet player Spano has taken a part in “Pach un Khnottn” and a few sections in “The 5th Kingdom Pt.1” were performed by the bass guitar player Martino Cuman from the band Non Voglio Che Clara. The mixing has been carried out by Francesco Fabris in the band’s own recording studio, whereas the digital and vinyl mastering was completed by Matt Colton at Alchemy Mastering in London. “Hòltzar” artwork is achieved by Boitier, an artist coming from the street-art scene who exclusively makes use of analogic techniques and strictly natural materials, being employed in the development and fixing of films and prints. Phinx soon plan to go on tour with their latest music production. Performances shall be staged through a sound and visual experience specifically designed to re-create the same flowing of details and materials which has so deeply characterized the artistic production of “Hòltzar”.

BIO

STREAMING

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