B Flat A

Description

In the introduction to his 1963 dystopian novel, *Bend Sinister*, Vladimir Nabokov explains how the book's plot—entailing subterfuge, betrayal, imprisonment, and death—begins to germinate in a puddle of rain. Like a cell, this oblong puddle on the verge of dividing reappears throughout the text as an ink stain, spilled milk, a footprint, or the trace of the human soul. Nabokov's puddle is the perfect metaphor for Trupa Trupa's music. An ever-changing entity, yet music that reflects a simple and ineluctable truth. The band's composition is key. Trupa Trupa consists of four friends and captains with different personalities. A situation that creates, in the words of singer Grzegorz Kwiatkowski, disturbances that lead to both democracy and polyphony. Trupa Trupa seeks to confront evil; exploring the wilderness of human nature where hatred and genocide are not just distant reverberations of Central European history, but still resonate in contemporary reality. The band does this openly and uncompromisingly, even if their lyrics like to wield metaphor. Inevitably, COVID loomed like a big cloud over the entire recording. Grzegorz speaks of a visible paranoia in the studio during the recording of *B Flat A*. They became even darker due to this strange and frightening atmosphere around them. Here math rock, hazy psychedelia and heavy folk unite in a unique, powerful sound. Compared to the two previous albums, *Of The Sun* (2019) and *Jolly New Songs* (2017), *B Flat A* is more direct. Trupa Trupa readily cites major influences such as Fugazi, Sonic Youth or The Velvet Underground, and others like Glenn Gould or Schubert. One can also hear goth, metal and post-rock sounds in this incredibly tactile, physical music. A force to be reckoned with, whether one is ready or not.