Sven Wunder and the diabolical musical charade of "Prussian Blue"

 

"Swedish artist Sven Wunder’s upcoming album Natura Morta"

"Prussian Blue" by Swedish artist / composer Sven Wunder, and from his upcoming album "Natura Morta", opens so lushly and then falls straight away into a scintillating mysterious wash of percolating sounds and bits of madness that feels so utterly cinematic. I immediately saw a scene from an imaginary movie done up in multiple scenes at once like in Norman Jewison's "The Thomas Crown Affair" but with George Clooney following a comely female while other collaborators are casing a museum in an "Ocean's Eleven" manner. You will likely see your very own movie in your head while you listen, I mean, even the title itself, "Prussian Blue" would make a grand title for a grand movie. 

-Robb Donker Curtius 

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Piano Piano Records is thrilled to present the colorful palette of enigmatic Swedish artist Sven Wunder’s upcoming album Natura Morta, due out later this year. Meaning "still life" in Italian, Natura Morta explores art as a bridge between nature and the human ability to judge and observe in eleven musical compositions, with brightly colored textures and an emphasis on vibrant melodies. Previously, Sven Wunder’s 2019 album Eastern Flowers took us into the world of Anatolian rock, European jazz, library, funk, psychedelia, and traditional folk melodies, while 2020’s Wabi Sabi mixed jazz with Eastern and Southern Asian sounds — both albums sold over 11,000 vinyl copies combined and remain greatly sought after on Discogs. Not much is known about Sven Wunder, but he’s been a massive word-of-mouth craze amongst psych, jazz and hip hop heads, with Eastern Flowers instantly selling out & seeing playlist placements by bonafide tastemakers like Danger Mouse, Mike D, Gilles Peterson, J Rocc and beyond.

As with previous Sven Wunder material, the tracks here are covered in lush orchestration, evoking the rich musical soundscapes of a previous era (think library music or the film scores of Morricone). The beautiful single “Impasto”, which refers to the technique used in painting where the paint is laid in very thick layers on a surface, features lavish sweeping strings and melodies hinting at echoes of the arrangements of Arthur Verocai, before taking a turn into ‘60s detective movie territory. You can imagine it being the score to a scene in a Harry Palmer film, which breaks for a romantic interlude in between the action and suspense.

Natura Morta collects pieces from a continuous variety of melodies — supported by a decisive rhythm section — creating a musical kaleidoscope of ever-changing colors. Sven Wunder brings life into a rich assortment of musical implications by fusing and combining melodic instruments with each other in a setting that spans from a classical to a modern idiom. The author evokes this panoramic portrait by articulating an instrumental dialog between a chamber orchestra and a jazz ensemble. The result is a musical celebration of material pleasures that also serves as a reminder of the brevity of human life.

Sven Wunder, Sweden, artist, composer, orchestral, jazz, chamber orchestration, soundtrack, classical to modern idiom, "Prussian Blue", album "Natura Morta"