„Meiburg’s interest in the natural world has often seen Shearwater bracketed with a generation of indie-folk musicians drawing on nature and tradition to invest their music with a sort of hand-me-down authenticity. But Shearwater’s music is frequently both smarter and deeper than that of his peers. There is arguably no modern musician working today who has better assimilated the approach Talk Talk’s Mark Hollis took on his masterworks Spirit Of Eden and Laughing Stock: a richly orchestrated art music assembled in a way that feels simultaneously intimate in sentiment and gigantic in scope.“ (Louis Pattison, Uncut, August 2026)
„The New World, says Meiburg, was made by “the wildest ensemble we’ve ever assembled”. It was recorded over four years in locations including London, Berlin and Texas, with the core trio of Shearwater – Meiburg, keyboardist Emily Lee and drummer and engineer Dan Duszynski – a constant. But particularly vital work was done at Shahzad Ismaily’s Figure 8 studio in Brooklyn, a creative hub where a musician of any background or discipline might turn up and be cajoled into action. Members of the Malian group Ngoni Ba add ngoni and rippling rhythms played on tamma, yabara and calabash. Palestine-born Firas Zreik adds ringing qanun to “More And More”. The New York woodwind player Doug Wieselman contributes clarinet and saxophone, while returning is an old friend, the veteran percussionist Thor Harris, who last played with Shearwater circa 2013’s Fellow Travelers. On paper this cast list probably looks like a recipe for bedlam, but it’s a mark of Meiburg’s vision – not to mention mix engineer Danny Reisch’s post-production skills – that all these diverse parts can be smoothed into a record that sounds like a single, flowing whole.“
Recorded at: Dandysounds, Dripping Springs; Figure 8, Brooklyn; The Shelter, London; Good Danny’s, Los Angeles; Hotel Earth, Los Angeles; Andere Baustelle, Berlin
Personnel: Jonathan Meiburg (vocals, guitar, bass, synthesizer, piano, Mellotron, voice, cymbal, field recordings), Dan Duszynski (drums, synthesizer, percussion, vocals, guitar), Emily Lee (synthesizer, percussion), Shahzad Ismaily (bass, synthesizer, percussion, drums), Doug Wieselman (clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone), Leo Abrahams (guitar), Thor Harris (congas, drums, tongue drum), Laurie Anderson (voice), Danny Reisch (noise), Mamadou Kouyate (bass ngoni), Moctar Kouyate (calabash), Mahamadou Tounkara (tamma, yabara), Lia Pikus (cello), Firas Zreik (qanun), Peter Lettre (upright bass), Henry Lettre (alto saxophone)
@ Lorenz: ich habe zwei, drei Alben von ihm sehr gemocht und nachts gespielt. Bei Talk Talk-Vergleichen werde ich gkeichzeitig etwas hellhörig und skeptisch.
Aber klar ist: wenn das Album absolut umwerfend ist (in meinen Ohren), kommt es natürlich in meine letzten Horizonte rein, zumla da in der Mitte ein Track von Laughing Stock gespielt wird und das Buch von Graeme einfach klasse ist.
Erstmal freue ich mich riesig über die neue Lanois: pure Magie, another lifer on the way!
4 Kommentare
Michael Engelbrecht
„The New World, says Meiburg, was made by “the wildest ensemble we’ve ever assembled”. It was recorded over four years in locations including London, Berlin and Texas, with the core trio of Shearwater – Meiburg, keyboardist Emily Lee and drummer and engineer Dan Duszynski – a constant. But particularly vital work was done at Shahzad Ismaily’s Figure 8 studio in Brooklyn, a creative hub where a musician of any background or discipline might turn up and be cajoled into action. Members of the Malian group Ngoni Ba add ngoni and rippling rhythms played on tamma, yabara and calabash. Palestine-born Firas Zreik adds ringing qanun to “More And More”. The New York woodwind player Doug Wieselman contributes clarinet and saxophone, while returning is an old friend, the veteran percussionist Thor Harris, who last played with Shearwater circa 2013’s Fellow Travelers. On paper this cast list probably looks like a recipe for bedlam, but it’s a mark of Meiburg’s vision – not to mention mix engineer Danny Reisch’s post-production skills – that all these diverse parts can be smoothed into a record that sounds like a single, flowing whole.“
Lorenz
Da bin ich gespannt. Das letzte Album „the great awakening“ finde ich richtig gut und hat mich an manchen Stellen an die späten Talk Talk erinnert.
Michael Engelbrecht
Produced by: Shearwater
Recorded at: Dandysounds, Dripping Springs; Figure 8, Brooklyn; The Shelter, London; Good Danny’s, Los Angeles; Hotel Earth, Los Angeles; Andere Baustelle, Berlin
Personnel: Jonathan Meiburg (vocals, guitar, bass, synthesizer, piano, Mellotron, voice, cymbal, field recordings), Dan Duszynski (drums, synthesizer, percussion, vocals, guitar), Emily Lee (synthesizer, percussion), Shahzad Ismaily (bass, synthesizer, percussion, drums), Doug Wieselman (clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone), Leo Abrahams (guitar), Thor Harris (congas, drums, tongue drum), Laurie Anderson (voice), Danny Reisch (noise), Mamadou Kouyate (bass ngoni), Moctar Kouyate (calabash), Mahamadou Tounkara (tamma, yabara), Lia Pikus (cello), Firas Zreik (qanun), Peter Lettre (upright bass), Henry Lettre (alto saxophone)
Michael Engelbrecht
@ Lorenz: ich habe zwei, drei Alben von ihm sehr gemocht und nachts gespielt. Bei Talk Talk-Vergleichen werde ich gkeichzeitig etwas hellhörig und skeptisch.
Aber klar ist: wenn das Album absolut umwerfend ist (in meinen Ohren), kommt es natürlich in meine letzten Horizonte rein, zumla da in der Mitte ein Track von Laughing Stock gespielt wird und das Buch von Graeme einfach klasse ist.
Erstmal freue ich mich riesig über die neue Lanois: pure Magie, another lifer on the way!