Fat Cat Records recently announced the signing of Estonian duo Maarja Nuut & Ruum (Hendrik Kaljujärv) to their 130701 imprint. It was following the release of her 2016 album, Une Meeles, that Maarja began to collaborate with Hendrik. I saw them perform as a duo in 2017 at WOMAD where their combination of voice, violin and electronics was both compelling and mesmerising.
Hendrik’s work with Tallinn’s avant-garde theatre NO9 and in particular his music and sound-works for stage and gallery spaces have heavily influenced his direction.
Their collaboration is an interesting one, led initially by Maarja’s desire to include electronics in her performance, Hendrik’s music struck a chord with her and that relationship has developed further now pulling both musicians out of their comfort zones. “It was totally unclear what is coming out from this collaboration”, notes Hendrik. “And I think that this [uncertainty] is what keeps it going: the music we make is invented”. Maarja: “In this collaboration we both bring in our sound tools and musical thinking to the process. Then each complements the other in their own ways. It’s been a long process finding the balance, but I love the fact we both have space to express ourselves and somehow in the end these different worlds come together as something rather natural.”
Watch the video by Benjamin Wigley for Kuud kuulama, the lead single from Muunduja below.
The presiding spirit of “Muunduja” (Shifter) is a state of being between states, the warping of time’s arrow using sound. Maarja Nuut & Ruum’s music often lures us into unimagined conversations with elements of our psychic selves that we may have otherwise forgotten. Whether the listener reacts through out-of-body experiences, glitches in cerebral programming, or old fashioned magic is immaterial. We experience the phenomena presented to us, and we take new insights from them.
Essentially the recording of two musicians’ inner travels, “Muunduja” is a release that relies heavily on gesture and spirit. Rich, rounded and expertly arranged, the music is also presented as a series of contrasts, heavy on shifts of tone, texture and mood.
The release will be supported by a European tour including The Sage, Gateshead and The Lexington on London. See below.
Maarja Nuut & Ruum Tour Dates
23 Sep :: Mupa – Budapest, HU
28 Sep :: Worm – Rotterdam, NL
29 Sep :: Concerto record store – Amsterdam, NL
30 Sep :: Abdij Keizersberg – Leuven, BE
04 Oct :: Tartu Uus Teater – Tartu, EE
05 Oct :: Hall – Tallinn, EE
12 Oct :: Theatre d’Herouville Saint-Clair – Caen, FR
13 Oct :: Gare Transatlantique – Cherbourg, FR
03 Nov :: Crossing Border Festival – Den Haag, NL
02 Dec :: The Lexington – London, UK
03 Dec :: The Sage – Gateshead, UK
04 Dec :: The Arts Centre – Norwich, UK
10 Dec :: Einstein Kultur – Munich, DE
11 Dec :: Theater Die Wohngemeinschaft – Cologne, DE
12 Dec :: Horns Erben – Leipzig, DE
13 Dec :: Elbphilharmonie (small hall) – Hamburg, DE
14 Dec :: Lutterbek – Kiel, DE
15 Dec :: Berghain Kantine – Berlin, DE
16 Dec :: Schlachthof – Wiesbaden, DE
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