Jacaszek – “Daffodils” (Ghostly International)

For Michal Jacaszek’s latest album of frosty neoclassical beauty, KWIATY, inspiration came from an unlikely place; the pages of an old poetry book.  The poet was Englishman Robert Herrick, who died around 350 years ago, and famously wrote the “gather ye rosebuds while ye may” bit.  Herrick’s sentiments about nature, mortality, and the fleeting nature of time struck a chord with Jacaszek, who loved how much “hope, solace, and peace” the poems gave him, despite the frequent darkness of their themes.

Rather than trying to interpret these poems in an instrumental fashion, Jacaszek gives us his most vocal-heavy album yet with KWIATY, bringing on Hania Malarowska as his singer.  Her voice is like a siren song on the wind, haunting, there and then not, always hard to make out and leaving much to the imagination.  Joasia Sobowiec-Jamiol and Natalia Grzebala add depth to the band, fleshing out Jacaszek’s imagination into new areas.  KWIATY is out 3/17 on Ghostly International, check out “Daffodils” below now.

photo by Pawel Grzes