When Širom debuted almost a decade ago, they reinvented folk music for a globalised world. Ever since, the trio has been reinventing itself. »In The Wind Of Night, Hard-Fallen Incantations Whisper« is the fifth album by Ana Kravanja, Iztok Koren, and Samo Kutin and their fourth for Glitterbeat’s tak:til sublabel. Following up on the droning »The Liquified Throne of Simplicity,« it sees the three musicians—credited with playing at least half a dozen different instruments each—opt for a lighter, more melodic, yet just as complex sound.
Already the 16+ minutes-long opener »Between the Fingers the Drops of Dawn« is based on a gamelan-esque groove and minimal music-inspired balafon patterns, while one or more string instruments—who knows, really—create an even more joyous chaos around them. It doesn’t stay that way, because Širom have not only mastered the combination of different musical traditions and unconventional sonics into an overall unique aesthetic, but also excel at storytelling: This is just the just first long-winding trip in a longer journey that leads them through different tempos, moods, and levels of intensity.
There’s gentle chamber music sinfonias that escalate into fiery drum-circle crescendos punctuated by wordless wailing, gentle minimal folk etudes, red-hot fusion jazz that opens itself up to non-Western scales, and even an almost 19-minute-long piece that sounds as if Nurse With Wound had collaborated with the Nihilist Spasm Band. There is, frankly, a lot happening on »In The Wind Of Night Hard-Fallen Incantations Whisper,« and yet it blends seamlessly together. And even at their most-hard hitting and dissonant, Širom exude a sense of hope that makes this an even rarer record.
