Absynthe Minded Announce Spring Album Release – 11th April 2011
aaamusic | On 17, Feb 2011
Absynthe Minded
Album ‘Absynthe Minded’ – Released: 11th April 2011(PIAS)
Recorded at Studio Ferber, Paris and produced by Jean Lamoot (Noir Désir, Alain Bashung, Girls In Hawaii), Absynthe Minded kicks off in swing-mode with If You Don’t Go, I Don’t Go and the song sets a template for this timeless, evocative record: Multiple Choice combines subterranean shuffle, Hammond-organ snarls, talking-blues verses, and a pop-tinged chorus; Heaven Knows has a languid rhythm reminiscent of early Dire Straits (!);Dead On My Feet is an elegant indie-pop delight; Oh! The Longing is an intimate and simple piano ballad; and the epic My Heroics, Part One was actually voted “best song of the decade” by the influential Flemish radio station Studio Brussel. Envoi is an inspired-but-original interpretation of a Dutch poem by Belgian’s most celebrated writer Hugo Claus.
Absynthe Minded take their name from the legendary and dangerously addictive alcoholic spirit (the Green Fairy) that conjures up images of inspiration and the muse. That and the fact that chief songwriter Bert Ostyn is also somewhat absent-minded. At the age of eighteen, Ostyn found himself studying recording techniques in Ghent and discovering artists as diverse as Django Reinhardt and Miles Davis and it is the influence of these two visionary artists that informs Ostyn and Absynthe Minded to this day; both were eclectic and both demonstrated that anything goes and, with their blend of gypsy, jazz, folk and indie, Absynthe Minded offer everything they stood for and more.
Absynthe Minded are Bert Ostyn (voice), Jan Duthoy (piano, Hammond organ), Sergej Van Bouwel (double bass), Renaud Ghilbert (violin) and Jakob Nachtergaele (drums).
