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Fredag d. 3. oktober udgiver vi vores debut-vinylplade "Al magt til de elskende".
"Al magt til de elskende" er en modig og ærlig udgivelse, der tør favne både lykken og smerten ved at være menneske. Albummet er en opfordring til at overgive sig til følelsernes kraft og en hyldest til dem, der tør elske uden forbehold.
I første omgang udkommer pladen ikke digitalt, men kun som vinyl, så for at du skal kunne være med fra starten af, kræver det to ting.1 du skal have en pladespiller2 du skal bestille pladen via linket
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfzqUFl9g_gcross_z76SpVPB2LqaM7zACmYnEJwVnslL0yYw/viewform

Dear all!

We’ve been playing music as Afenginn since 2002. That’s more than 23 years of touring, making albums and large-scale projects, sitting through endless meetings, writing applications, throwing parties, watching the band members’ kids grow up, and of course dealing with the online presence of having a band.

In the early days, before social media and streaming, almost everything happened on our website. The news section was updated a few times a week, and we had a lively guestbook where we could respond directly. Our newsletter was another backbone of this whole enterprise. We used to bring an old typewriter to shows so people could sign up on the spot. The list grew steadily, until I, to my eternal regret, deleted the whole thing from Mailchimp in a moment of idiocy. But that’s another story.

The point is: for many years, direct contact with fans and supporters was a big part of Afenginn. Over time, life got busier, more kids arrived, and social media both helped and killed some of that magic. I also felt that I was becoming a bit more private as the internet grew noisier. Social media has always felt both strangely appealing and repelling. But I really miss being in that mindspace of sharing what’s going on and being in closer contact with all of you. After the pandemic, it’s been hard to regain momentum, and I’d like to change that.

In less than three weeks we’re releasing our eighth album. It’s called Movements I and I’m truly proud of it. I’m also one of those people who always thinks the most recent work is the best, which is a blessing, even if it isn’t always objectively true. What is true is that we pour an enormous amount of effort into these albums. They’re big productions, meticulously crafted. Over the years they’ve received recognition, awards, and praise both nationally and internationally, but this isn’t really reflected in the streaming numbers.

People still buy vinyl and CDs at shows and online, which is a vital source of income. But from streaming, we make very little. All our albums have been released on the Faroese label TUTL Records (with a few licensed to Westpark Music in Germany or Tiger Music). When it’s time to record, I usually ask if there’s any money left on our label account, and often there’s a little bag that's been collected since last time, to help with production. But with CD income down, touring has become more expensive. And to be honest, we’re not as eager to sleep seven in a German backstage room anymore. We have families, responsibilities, and slightly higher standards now. I think, we’re also less driven by the constant validation of being on the road. At least a bit.

I’m not writing this to complain about the good old days, but rather to get back into the habit of sharing with those of you who are genuinely interested. I often meet people who ask how the band is doing, but social media only shows posts to a tiny fraction of our audience. Sometimes as low as 1-2% unless we pay to boost them. And it feels wrong on so many levels to hand money to Facebook just to send people to Spotify, where we essentially give the music away for free to a very questionable enterprise.

That’s why I’m excited about Sleeve.fm. It feels like a much better match: closer to you, more authentic and personal, and I’ll be focusing on posting more here. There will be different membership levels: some free, some paid - with early access to music and other small perks. Already next week, I’ll be sharing the full Movements I album with our paid subscribers.

So, I encourage you to hop along and get into this boat together!

Are there any of you that has been with us since the early days? And any of you wanting to jump in now?

With love, Kim

SINGLE RELEASE: 1st MOVEMENT FROM CONCERTO XII AFTER BWV 530 
1st Movement From Concerto XII after BWV 530 is a collective explosion of pure joy from the coming album – if you ask the musicians behind the composion.

Listen here: https://bc.lnk.to/newbrandenburgconcertosIN
**MORE INFO ABOUT PRELISTENING EVENT BELOW**

CONCERTO XII AFTER BWV 530“This concerto is perhaps the most deserving of the title Concerto with several instruments.” – Antoine Torunczyk. 

And he adds: “The Concertante character is obvious and yet it’s difficult to identify a clear soloist : Instead, flute, oboe, violins and a particularly rich continuo group (from which the bassoon or cello occasionally emerge for short solo moments) join forces in a jubilant concert - giving full meaning to the Latin word concertare: to play together, without one particularly gaining the upper hand over another. A collective explosion of pure joy!”

THE NEW BRANDENBURG CONCERTOS – A WORK OF FICTION 

Following the example set by Bach himself—who never hesitated to transform, for instance, a prelude for solo violin into a sinfonia for grand organ and orchestra with strings, oboes, trumpets, and timpani—this album presents an expanded version of the Organ Trio Sonatas: six new “Concertos for Several Instruments,” echoing the original French title Concerts avec plusieurs instruments that Bach gave to the equally famous Brandenburg Concertos.

The result is a work of fiction—far from any claim to authenticity, a concept usually central to an historically informed ensemble such as Concerto Copenhagen. 
But, as Antoine Torunczyk puts it: “I have come up with an attempt at ‘Historically Informed Fiction’ (..) At the end of the journey, the music seems unquestionably transformed, yet strangely familiar – like meeting an old friend after many years. My only wish is that the listener will take as much pleasure in rediscovering these pieces in a new light as I have enjoyed spending these years in their company.”

The album will be released on Berlin Classics on October 24th and will be available on CD and all major streaming platforms.

PRELISTENING OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL CIRCLES MEMBER
Next Friday we will share a prelistening link for all our CoCo-Circles members here on Sleeve. Exclusively we will share a listening link to the whole album - normally only available for the press.

Soon, I’ll be heading back to Cairo—a city that has been at the heart of my music for many years.

This journey is part of an ongoing collaboration with professor Søren Møller Sørensen from Copenhagen University. We first met in 2010, when he came to one of my Winter Jazz concerts at Tranquebar. After the show, he told me he used to play the lute and wanted oud lessons. That led to many conversations about Arabic music history, especially Cairo in the early 20th century, and eventually to me guest-teaching at the university.

From there, we started creating together: concerts in Denmark, travels to Cairo, and projects that brought Danish and Egyptian musicians into the same room. Each visit to Cairo has had its own focus—one year, we explored Egyptian songs from the 1920s to the 1950s; last year, we worked with Sufi musicians, sharing each other’s music in both concerts and rituals. There’s even a documentary from that time.

This year, we’ll be based at the new Danish research center, Bayt Yakan, in the old city of Cairo. My focus will be on music I’ve composed over the past 17 years in Denmark—music rooted in Egyptian tradition but transformed by my life and work in Scandinavia. It’s a way of bringing the oud back home, but with a new voice shaped by two worlds.

Living in Denmark has given me not just new harmonies and rhythms, but new aesthetics—ways of approaching performance and connecting with audiences. Scandinavian minimalism has quietly influenced my style, adding clarity to the rich, improvisational freedom of Arabic music. In Cairo, I’m curious to see what happens when these worlds meet again.