sejane and grasis

The theme of L&K’s previous album, PARALLELS (2004), was dances.
The central theme of the new album is images – images that have inspired the composers, images that are called to the mind’s eye of the listener during a performance, images that bring the listener to identify with new sounds. Every piece is intended as a soundscape in the world of imagination, where sounds inspire the listener to paint a picture in his own mind.

In ELVES’ SONG and DANCE IN THE HILLS, Liene Sējāne toys with a slightly mystical, somewhat primeval approach, using early instruments such as the Scandinavian overtone flute. At the same time, she does not avoid contemporary rhythms, including modern jazz improvisations.
In IMAGES she uses complex polyrythms with changes in tempos and moods, allowing the listener to conjure up his or her own colours and motives.
The album’s central piece is Kristaps Grasis’ TRAVELLER’S SUITE, written over a period of two years, illustrating the constant to and fro of the two musicians’ life in two countries. The piece has five parts: three main parts and two interludes.

The first part, THE CITY, recreates the pace of today’s urban lifestyle – the rapid pulse of the city, the sounds and the sights, the excitement and the attraction.
The second part (the first interlude), PROMENADE, creates a lull in the busy life of the city, a moment of respite before the pace picks up again.
The third part is THE AIRPORT – the hub, the middle point between the musicians’ two homes and, at the same time, the gateway to the world.
The fourth part (the second interlude), TRAINRIDE, is a rhythmic variation of the third part. The emotions are similar, but they are now stiller – earthbound, homebound.
The fifth part, BY THE SEA, recalls all of the previous emotions, but also documents the shifting nature of the sea, the fascination that makes one return – again and again.

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