Wanderwelle presents the first entry of their trilogy for Important Records, dedicated to telling the story of the climate crisis and its effects on coastal areas around the globe.

Black Clouds Above The Bows consists of electro-acoustic threnodies for an environment at risk, serving as a poignant musical testament to the urgent need for environmental action. Wailing odes express and examine the destructive activity of intensifying storm systems that are enhanced by the climate crisis. First-hand experiences with coastal damage and meetings with local maritime experts on the subject inspired the artists to compose this album, capturing the raw power of nature’s wrath and igniting a call for global change.

Antique cavalry trumpets are playing a central role in the album. The instruments, recorded and manipulated by Wanderwelle, sound an environmental alarm in the same manner as they were once used to warn men on the battlefield. After more than a century of silence, they are once again fulfilling their purpose. Starting out as menacing tones, the brass progresses into blaring noises and gets more aggressive as the album continues, resulting in a cacophony across a tumultuous sea. With digital alterations, the natural trumpets were used beyond the range of the harmonic series and their original pitch.

Furthermore, their bright timbre is reminiscent of the songs of the sirens in Greek mythology, whose bewitching tones lured ancient mariners to their doom. A fitting analogy for our lack of modern leadership and march towards ecological catastrophes.

A great deal of inspiration was found in maritime superstition and the vast number of bad omens. For ages, these ill signs are known to have preceded the demise of seamen. This theme felt equally suited to the current environmental disasters and the larger crises yet to come; the writing’s on the wall. Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s major poem ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, served as further inspiration for the bleak mood of the album.

Transmuting the original characteristics of acoustic instruments is a recurring technique used in the making of the trilogy. The sounds generated by these processes are combined with recorded electronics and archival recordings.

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”Exquisitely poised, hallucinatory chamber minimalism (…) a very fine grasp of edge-of-dissonant tones and absorbingly enigmatic space that calls for comparison with a sort of post-apocalyptic 4th world interzone, like a shadowier Pauline Oliveros piece or the barren cinematic isolationism of Lynch/Badalamenti and The Stranger (…)” 
-Boomkat

”This album progressively develops a sense of alarm about an impending catastrophe that is inevitable. The manipulated trumpet sounds cover a spectrum from softly whirring tones to piercing, unsettling shrieks. They bring to mind the Sirens, luring seafarers to their doom, or the lamentations of Cassandra, futilely cautioning the Trojans about the impending destruction.”
-Gonzo (circus)

”A requisite air of foreboding stretches across the entire set, whose first-half tone – although not its composition – is reminiscent of Gavin Bryars’ The Sinking of the Titanic.”
-A Closer Listen

”Despite its heaviness, this is not an unpleasant listening experience. The electronics are luxuriant, even as they serve to emphasize the work’s message. The original trumpet recordings – unrecognizable as they often are – maintain their call-to-arms urgency.”
-The Moderns

‘’(…)Wanderwelle engages with a topic of utmost seriousness in a manner that formulates neither exhaustion nor despair (…) but instead, heightened awareness and a desire to remain engaged. It is a wildly successful release in both form and content.’’
-The Vinyl District

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Antique cavalry trumpets and bugles, cello, violin, voice, bowed guitar, EBow, Prophet-6 synthesizer, modular synthesizer, field recordings.

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Composed, recorded and performed by J.P.A. van Dulm & A.G.A. Bartels

Graphic design by Wanderwelle

Mastered by James Plotkin

Important Records 2022 ©