Pissourin

Description

The Cypriot trio returns with a fourth album that blends psychedelia and avant-folk. A feverish dance of string instruments, vocal layers, and brass. Night is the time when strange things happen, when forms are shifting and blurred, when it is difficult to distinguish reality from illusion. Night is the time for imagination. For the Cypriots of Monsieur Doumani, these hours of darkness have also been a source of inspiration for their fourth album Pissourin. Since its creation in 2011, the trio has been celebrated worldwide for its acoustic and innovative reinventions of Cypriot musical tradition. However, after three albums, the band was in search of something new, something unexpected… After eight years of loyal service, founding member Angelos Ionas decided to leave the group. Andys Skordis, who had already been touring with the band on guitar, joined them full-time and began to bring his own ideas. Alongside Antonis Antoniou, leader and founding member who plays the tzouras (a type of bouzouki), and Demetris Yiasemides on trombone, the trio embarked on the concept of an album that would portray the night, something between sleep and dream. It is a nocturnal quest for the meaning of life, to feel things innocently and honestly as one does in childhood. A chance to leave behind what confines our minds and to be able to soar towards freedom and love. The pissourin (Cypriot dialect for "total darkness") brought together various elements: the moon, the stars, the planets, the rivers – and the creatures that appear in the songs are the actors in this quest. This idea allows Monsieur Doumani to stay connected to Cypriot tradition while exploring further. They add the power of rock, the wild colors of Turkish psychedelia, and the hypnotic side of West African music. Even the way the album was composed by Antoniou is different, prioritizing interactions and stories over melody. A concept, a new way of composing, the shift to electric, Pissourin brings many changes to the universe of Monsieur Doumani. Technology has offered the band a broader sound palette. Effects pedals have allowed them to think of their instruments differently. The guitar and trombone are sometimes used as a rhythm section thanks to a looper. Pissourin speaks not only of darkness but of the creatures that inhabit it: those who find their freedom in the night and the madness it can contain. One can hear their stirrings here, a bold, electric, and eclectic music that comes to life in the depths of the night.