Jozef Van Wissem - This Is My Blood [Incunabulum Records 043]

Released via Incunabulum Records on May 1st, 2k26 is "This Is My Blood", the latest album conceived and written by Brooklyn-based, yet Dutch born composer and lute-player Jozef Van Wissem which functions as a quasi-soundtrack for Joaquim Pujol's experimental film 'Maquina' covering a psychedelic trip in the desert of Colorado. Over the course of seven tracks and a total runtime of 40 minutes Jozef Van Wissem lays out a dark'ish, solemn and inward looking sonic landscape starting with the minimalist melancholia and beautifully touching Leftfield Folk epos that is "What The Eternal Beginning Is" followed by the harsher, twangy and more metallic instrumental Leftfield Folk approach of "Praise Shall Sound From Shore To Shore, Until The Sun Shall Rise And Set No More" which, despite being fully instrumental, conveys the imagined intensity of an imaginary sermon whereas "Concerning Our Saviors Silence" brings forth a timeless and rather dreamy take on Post-PostRock x PopAmbient minimalism hovering beyond space and time. Furthermore we see "How You Must Enter Into Suffering" following the path laid out, entering a slightly more psychedelic and dubbed out Desert Blues feel for horseback rides across wide open planes under a scorching sun with the subsequent "Remission", the only vocal piece on this album, weighing in an epic, somewhat medieval feel with its dramatic harmonies, large scale string arrangements and subdued chorales whilst "All You Do All You Bare" functions as a direct harmonic and atmospheric continuation of its predecessor before "What The Eternal End Is" brings closure in a warm and well caressing manner, presenting Contemporary Folk for hot Sunday afternoons in basically unscathed rural nature. Highly recommended.

Album artwork on Instagram!