STIL #1

Jan Swerts

As a teenager, Jan Swerts was heavily influenced by Wim Mertens, Philip Glass and Keith Jarrett, and later on by artists such as Max Richter and Jóhann Jóhannsson. His debut album Weg (2010) was a wistful journey through dark streets, accompanied only by a minimalist piano and an ethereal voice. Reviewers for Humo, Knack, De Morgen, Radio 1 and Klara were all more than thrilled. They were once again very positive about Anatomie van de melancholie (2013) and Schaduwland (2016).

Together with journalist Lander Deweer, Jan Swerts also wrote an important book that colours his music: De nieuwe stilte, ‘exploring the acoustic Wild West’. Partly because of that book, we had to wait five years for Oud Zeer, but at the end of October, the new album will finally be released. It's becoming a tradition: whenever Jan Swerts releases a new album, he presents it to us.

Wouter Dewit

One song, 17 million streams. On average, 45.000 listeners each month. For number fetishists, Wouter Dewit is a Spotify sensation. For fans of neoclassical music, the Belgian pianist is a revelation.

This fall, he releases his new album A place I need to be, written and recorded during the first lockdown in the spring of 2020. On the album, Dewit returns to the basis, pure and sedate. He drew inspiration from the beautiful changes he witnessed in his springtime garden. Yet, there's also a dark side to his music, from the isolation that we all experienced at that time.

A concert centred on Wouter, his piano and a wide range of emotions …

Nicolas Rombouts & Matt Watts

A November evening in 2020, bass player and producer Nicolas Rombouts and Brussels-based American songwriter Matt Watts meet in Nicolas’ recording studio. It's one week after the suicide of their mutual friend, artist Loloman (aka Ward Zwart), and in the aftermath of a failed marriage, marked by pain, addiction and depression, that they decide to have a recording session.

That evening and night, they share their loss in words, and on a muted piano, double bass and electronics. They also share their compositions and improvise new pieces. By the next day, their new album Muted Songs For Piano is finished, meant to be listened to in one go, from beginning to end.

It's an intense listening experience and an album that faces the heroic battle with the personal, nightly demons of both composers. Or, in other words, how grief and pain can lead also lead to beauty.