Just like they did in 2024 with Grzybnia, Błoto take listeners once again on a modern, electronic mushroom trip with their 2025 release Grzyby. The Wrocław-based band stays true to their concept, blending acoustic instruments with electronic sound design in a way that feels both grounded and exploratory.
Each of the five tracks is named after a mushroom – in Polish. One can clearly hear that the four members of Błoto have deep jazz roots: all of them are also part of the acclaimed Polish jazz collective EABS, and that influence runs richly through this record.
Grzyby moves somewhere between jazz, ambient, electronica, and noise – but with more focus and depth than its predecessor. Where Grzybnia was raw and impulsive, Grzyby opens more subtly, darkly, and with greater control on “Wrośniak” (Turkey tail in English). A metallic, clattering drum beat sets the framework, while piano and bass drive the track forward with calm determination.
A dense soundscape runs like an organic thread through the entire album – it’s on this textured backdrop that the band’s musical experimentation unfolds: themes are introduced, revisited, expanded, broken apart.
Jazz emerges most clearly on “Chaga”, with long, drawn-out saxophone lines that border on the meditative. The album is rhythmically driven and trance-like in structure: repetitive patterns pull the listener in, while subtle new elements are woven in and out. Electronic textures blend seamlessly with piano, clarinet, deep bass tones, and ambient synth layers to create a cohesive sonic world.
The final track, “Pleśniak” (Mucor), is lighter, longer (ten minutes), danceable, and leans towards minimalism in both form and feel. With Grzyby, Błoto offer more clarity, more cohesion than they did a year ago – and on this second mushroom journey, they find that elusive sweet spot between concept and sonic experimentation.
Grzyby
