Etienne Nillesen - Twee [Sofa Music 609]

Put out on the circuit on May 22nd, 2k26 via the Norwegian staple that is Sofa Music is "Twee", the most recent musical outing by originally Dutch, now Cologne-based drummer, composer and solo performer Etienne Nillesen who - throughout the entirety of this 35 minutes one track album - focuses solely on what he describes as extended snare drums as singular instrument and sound source. The result of this conceptual approach, which initially might evoke the idea of an extended percussive drum exercise when laid out on paper, might surprise many a listener unfamiliar with Nillesen's work as there is no initial drum, no hard hitting percussive brutalism and not even an echo of intricate and complex Jazz rhythmicity to be found in here. Instead the album starts with meandering ethereal and otherworldly high and mid-frequency movements unbound by time, space and the universe in general, a crystalline ambience of rather electro-acoustic nature, harmonic, yet occasionally offset by metallic squeaks and screeches, with echoes of echoes of angelic choirs and voices seeping through from another dimensions creating a fragile forever presence sometimes drifting off into minimal distortions and spiralling, dubbed out modulations which are becoming relatively dramatic and agitated for a short while before finally finding back to longing, siren'esque and rather seductive beauty. This is not an album. This is a monument in sound. And a recommended one for sure.

Album artwork on Instagram!