Pendel
Pendel is the dutch word for pendulum. The very title goes some way to explaining the music you’ll find inside, in the sense that Yadayn’s music has a number of playful, and sometimes dramatic, mood swings. Alive and active, the strings play rhythmically tight melodies that swing like a metronome from partly improvised phrases to partly structured sequences. This eclectic collection differs from song to song; in every listen, something swings this way and that. Pendel is a fully matured album, but the occasional, punchier strums still seem to elicit an occasional teenage outburst.
Yadayn’s music is incredibly active music, but the songs don’t ever feel out of place. Multi-instrumentalist Gowaart Van Den Bossche smoothly travels through a largely sedate landscape that casts its eyes over its surroundings. The instrumentation is completely natural: guitars, ukulele, keyboards, melodica, clarinet. It’s this more than anything else that gives the album its diverse nature; like a rainbow bending across the blue sky, it’s a colourful sound. Steady bass notes cling to the music as the higher strings gently undulate, producing a slight rippling effect as it glides over its cool waters. This is slower music, a tranquil second in a busy diary.
As we progress, the music relaxes. Only as we reach ‘Deur’ do we come across a stricter beat and a slight electronic drone, but this is as far as it goes. The beat quickly subsides, and as it falls away it loses in a flash much of its pendulum-like momentum. Repeating guitar lines sway from one side to the other as the music reclines. ‘Raam’ delivers a gorgeous guitar-led progression that melts away the seemingly uncontrollable events of a fiery world. The melody converges with the rhythm, uniting the two in a powerful, final flourish. There’s a beautiful equilibrium between the softer, fingerstyle-led melodies and the harder strums that, in some instances, border on the furious. Strange intervals stagger around a psychotic bass. Mystically arpeggiated open strings stand in the doorway. Again, the music has swung – what was once lively and unpredictable is now deeply content.
Amazing musician – I never would have discovered this guy had it not been for this article. Thanks, James.