{"title":"Espen Horne","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"the-anatomy-of-serene-eloquence","title":"The Anatomy Of Serene Eloquence","description":"\u003cp\u003e2023 sees the return of multi-talented Norwegian producer Espen Horne to Wah Wah 45s, after a 24 year hiatus. The man behind the label's very first release, the now seminal Magnetica, never lost his connection with the imprint and has remained very much part of the Wah Wah family, making a comeback this year with his first solo material under his own name since that club classic from 1999.\nBack in the spring, the first single from the project, the gorgeous soul-jazz beauty Bakeren, featuring the stunning vocals of Resonators' Faye Houston, quickly found a home on Gilles Peterson's internationally renowned BBC Radio 6 show as well as that of Jazz FM legend Robbie Vincent, Bandcamp Weekly and the Fresh Finds Jazz Spotify playlist.\nFollowing that, Bergen Sunrays, became a weekly fixture on the Craig Charles Funk \u0026amp; Soul Show on BBC 6 Music, with the limited 7-inch of both singles selling out within hours of release.\nNext up was the wistful Den Franske Gitaren, a lugubrious soul-jazz piece with drum \u0026amp; bass leanings featuring Bergen based MC and vocalist Aich, which found favour with legends Laurent Garnier and Jazzanova as well as hot Japanese production outfit Dazzle Drums.\nThis was closely followed by the final single to be taken from the album, the stunning and outspoken vocal jazz waltzer Nada Pode Me Calar (which roughly translates to Nothing Can Shut Me Up!) featuring the sublime talent of Olav Wöllo on vocals and Juno - anotherr big one with Gilles Peterson on Worldwide FM and Deb Grant on BBC 6 Music.\nAnd now the full album, entitled The Anatomy Of Serene Eloquence is available for your aural delectation. Recorded largely during lockdown, the LP is a sophisticated and composed piece of work that sees the Norwegian producer make connections with musicians from across Europe, and some closer to home, to collaborate on this sedate and peaceful collection of songs.\nThe aforementioned Faye Houston also appears on the soulful, dub flavoured Don't Fall Asleep, a piece of music that explores the feeling of being isolated whilst sharing a mutual love and drive to explore new sonic possibilities.\nElsewhere, Olav Wöllo pops up again too, this time on O Mar E A Lua and once again singing in Portuguese to give this track a certain Tropicalia feel, as Espen explains:\n\"Olav Wöllo is a close friend, an excellent musician and vocalist, and a capoeira professor here in Bergen. He has spent much of his life living in Brazil and speaks Portuguese fluently. He wrote the lyrics for this tune years ago and had just been waiting for the right collaboration to come along.\nWe went to his lovely studio out on this remote island, made a massive gyoza meal, had some serious good wine and stayed the whole night to record his vocal harmonies and outspoken lyrics.\"\nThe single Bergen Sunrays also appears on the album in instrumental form with featured keys courtesy of London based player Rory More - here entitled Rory's Sunrays. His Lowrey organ adds a more melancholic feel to the track, as it does on the stunning Belle Époque, alongside the ivory work of Eirik Blåsternes - an emotional, contemplative and atmospheric track that was tested and shaped in the eclipse of Covid.\nAs with Belle Époque, La Psychosomnie is a playful yet explorative cut that examines insomnia, paralysis and hypnosis courtesy of some enigmatic French spoken word spinning around a framework of drums, bass and swirling keys.\nAnd finally, the album offers up an alternative version of the single Den Franske Gitaren, this time featuring Martin Halla, a vocalist out of the Bergen Grieg Jazz Academy and winner of the Norwegian version of The Voice back in 2012! The perfect flip to Aich's more mournful interpretation of this bass and drum future classic.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wah Wah 45s","offers":[{"title":"Black LP.","offer_id":50407517290827,"sku":"2183162","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_20741314_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726598734"},{"product_id":"bakeren-rorys-sunrays","title":"Bakeren \/ Rory's Sunrays","description":"\u003cp\u003eMukatsuku are long-time friends with Norway's Espen Horne so it makes sense they have moved to issue a couple of instrumentals following on from the quickly sold out success of a limited 7\" he dropped on Wah Wah 45's in late 2023. This 45 features an exclusive version of 'Bakeren' showcased on a Mukatsuku label profile special on Gilles Peterson's recent Worldwide show in January this year.\n      On the flip is an instrumental version of 'Bergen Sunrays', here renamed 'Rory's Sunrays', and featuring some great organ work from London-based musician Rory More. 300 hand-numbered copies only. Strictly no repress.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mukatsuku","offers":[{"title":"Black 7\"","offer_id":50434447245643,"sku":"2183161","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_c346d64c_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726889132"},{"product_id":"bakeren-bergen-sunrays","title":"Bakeren \/ Bergen Sunrays","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe return of Norwegian producer, musician, graphic \/ fashion designer and erstwhile goalkeeper Espen Horne is something quite momentous for Wah Wah 45s. The label's debut release, the now seminal Magnetica, was produced by the man himself, and in the best part of 25 years that followed he never lost his connection with the label and remained very much part of the Wah Wah family.\nNow, almost a quarter of a century later, Espen returns with his first solo material under his own name since that club classic from 1999. Having produced music under the pseudonym of Bobby Hughes (his goalkeeping moniker when playing for Wigan!) and alongside soulful reggae vocalist Caitlin Simpson as Kinny and Horne for Tru Thoughts, Espen is back with another vocalist of a similar ilk, and one who is well known to fans of Wah Wah 45s.\nFaye Houston was one of two great front women for the label's much loved, and much missed, dub outfit Resonators. On the A-side she returns to the fold with Espen on the deeply spiritual soul-jazz beauty Bakeren. It's the first taste of Espen's debut LP for the imprint, The Anatomy of Serene Eloquence, due out this winter. \nThe opening spoken words set the scene:\n\"For han bor helt alene på en bitteliten øy\" which translates to \"Because he lives all alone on his tiny island\" and sums up perfectly how Espen lives his life in the beautiful, lush Western Norwegian coastal town of Bergen, surrounding himself with nature and focusing on it as one of the main inspirations for his new music.\nThis was never more the case than during the pandemic, when Espen began work on his new album. Grateful for the natural wonders that surrounded him, but keen to reach out to fellow humans to collaborate with, he started sharing musical ideas on-line with Faye, organist Rory More and bass player \u0026amp; vibes master Alexander von Mehren. Adding Eirik Blästernes on keys and Ivar Thormodsceter on drums were the finishing touches that created a very special and very moving piece of music that sets the scene for the album. The love and respect that the musicians share for each other, and their surroundings, is explicit in this song. A song which, rather wonderfully, draws its inspiration from an early 1970s Norwegian children's record, naturally.\nOn the flip, Bergen Sunraysemploys the talents of another sublime vocalist - this time rapper and singer Selim Mutic who is also, quite aptly, from the Norwegian's home town referenced in the song's title. The track was the first piece that Espen started working on in this new collection of songs, and what started as a rough sketch was soon picked up to be used as part of the Visit Bergen tourism campaign! The song's lyrics talk about loving their city for what it is - \"raindrops, snowflakes, sunrays\", all in one day! It's a melancholic and soulful love song to Bergen that incidentally also marks the first time that Mutic has written and performed a piece in English!\nCurious keys come courtesy of Eirik Blåsternes alongside driving drums from Ivar Thormodsæter, but it's Chris Holm's heavy bassline groove, itself inspired, in typical Espen Horne style, by an obscure choral Christian record from 1970, that really propels the track forward.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wah Wah 45s","offers":[{"title":"7\"","offer_id":50495909200203,"sku":"2050202","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_65d7f2ae_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727715653"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/espen-horne.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}