Kravchenko Clees

The Kravchenko Clees duo brings traditions to the present, exposing emotions, associations and layers of meaning. From poems and metaphors they develop together fragile fleeting sound structures with singing and vibraphone. Delicate melodies and shades fold like the petals of a flower. Driven by their shared search for identity, they explore their innermost being and the world around them. Pure, crystal clear and without a safety net. Their debut album Faces impresses with its open clarity. The special cast with vocals and vibraphone opens up unused terrain.

“Faces” confronts freedom, intimacy and attention to detail. Special attention is paid to the poem settings of the Ukrainian poet and activist Wasyl Stus, whose decisive texts fit well with the duo’s integrity and illuminated atmospheres. The vibraphone and voice cling to each other like comfortingly soft cat paws. Both instruments fit very well together due to their similar position and immediacy. The duo skilfully resists the lurking kitsch of the vibraphone and extends its instruments to church organs in places.

The album will be released on Unit Records, produced by Wanja Slavin.

“It is a rare combination, a duo of voice and vibraphone. Two melodic “instruments” that play around, circle each other or become one in unison to form a shared sound tool. The voice sings words, speaks, whispers, forms sounds, breaks the melody, fragments it into sharp-edged splinters that shatter between the clattered chords of the vibraphone and form new shapes in the music. Sparkling, seductive, tentative, questioning.” Maxi Broecking