BTV104 Kloster : Half Dream, Half Epiphany

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“Half Dream, Half Epiphany” (btv104) cd/cass
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Track listing:
2. Benjamin’s Song (3:42)
3. Shepherd Song (3:48)
4. I Burned the Blueprints (4:40)
5. Time Spent With You Is Time Well Spent (6:07)
6. Half Dream, Half Epiphany (4:10)
7. Take the Driver’s Seat (4:06)
8. Clad and Closed (1:37)
9. Be Still, My Soul (10:04)
After two conceptual albums dealing with medieval mystics and ancient Danish hymns, which resulted in bookings at the Roskilde Festival and 5 stars reviews in major Danish national papers and magazines, Kloster is now returning with the album Half Dream, Half Epiphany which might be their most ambitious work so far.
Musically (as with previous Kloster albums) Half Dream, Half Epiphany is still based upon a dark, but hopeful pastoral folk centered around Mikael R Andreasen’s fragile voice and vocally supported by Solrun Stig from Norway and Sarah Hepburn from the US who both have been an integral part of the Kloster project since its inception in 2001. In contrast to earlier releases, this new album offers more electric guitars and various kinds of drums and percussion to support an insisting, varied, and detailed soundscape created by the help from Jakob Brixen (Hymns from Nineveh / Mechanical Bird), Manoj Ramdas (The Good, The Bad / Spektr), Mikkel Elzer (Blood on a Feather), Jonas Munk og Jakob Skøtt (Causa Sui), David Blomqvist (Blomqvist), Magnus Maimonide, and seven other supporting musicians.
Although not necessarily or far from audible in the actual music, Kloster’s main musical influences would be the Danielson Famile, Current 93, Mount Eerie, Arvo Pärt, Bardo Pond, and Popol Vuh.
As usual, Kloster’s songs are based around song writer Mikael R Andreasen’s own faith and doubt, but unlike previous albums, Half Dream, Half Epiphany is primarily intended to be a political album.
Mikael R Andreasen explains: ”I have become more and more political throughout the years. Politics is foremost a matter of power, but here in Denmark I don’t think it matters so much order accutane whatever government we have. What would matter, however, would be if we started to consider each other and the aspect of power in a new light, and in that aspect I think spirituality, among other things, has something useful to offer – the belief that every person possesses infinite value, where you serve one another intimately, and where you gracefully rest knowing that you have enough. Imagine what a difference it would make, if politicians, and you and me, began to realize and live by the fact that to lead means to serve! It is within and among those thoughts and conversations with other people about issues of power that these new songs has come to life, and that is in my mind very political.”
Half Dream, Half Epiphany is produced by Mikael R Andreasen and mixed by Jonas Munk (Causa Sui Manual). The album will be released digitally and on vinyl by the Target Group in Denmark and in North America on cd and cassette by Burnt Toast Vinyl.
During the last many years Kloster has been playing a great numbers of shows in various settings ranging from big festivals like Roskilde Festival outside Copenhagen to tiny festivals like Fanø Free Folk Festival located on the small beautiful island of Fanø in the Atlantic Ocean as well as shows in unusual places like a grotto north of the Arctic circle, an old theatre in London, a church on the Faroe Island, a Norwegian forest, and numerous other exquisite places.
About Kloster’s Ni salmer og en aftensang
“Kloster demonstrates an incomparable flair for combining medieval-sounding folk songs with an endless presence, intimacy, and dark melancholia wrapped around equal parts pessimism, despair, faith, and hope.” — Gaffa magazine 5/6
“Kloster has almost created a masterpiece.” — Undertoner 5/6
About Kloster’s The Waves and Winds Still Know His Voice “Hauntingly beautiful Danish neo-folk” — Gaffa magazine 5/6
“I’m impressed.” — Undertoner 6/6