Arnold de Boer, singer of the Dutch noise-punk band The Ex, has performed in Prague many times as a solo artist. This year, however, his solo project Zea has expanded into a four-piece ensemble with a unique repertoire and sound. The magic lies in the musicians’ ability to discover new colors within their instruments. At times, the cello sounds like percussion; elsewhere, it drifts into an ethereal upper register, the bow pressed close to the bridge. The drumming is stripped down to its bare essence, while Xavier Charles’s clarinet — with a broad palette ranging from noise to electroacoustic music — completes the collective sonic poems. The enchanting sound architecture is further shaped by Frisian, de Boer’s native language from the Frisian Islands in the north of the Netherlands. The repertoire combines Arnold’s own lyrics with carefully selected poetry set to music. Much like The Ex, de Boer creates a sonic counterpoint between sharp edges and hidden passion, though here it is shifted more toward the singer-songwriter realm.

In Prague, Zea will present its new album In lichem fol beloften (A Body Made of Promises), recorded live over three days on the Frisian Islands in a rural church with outstanding acoustics. The sixteen-member drum ensemble Hallelujah Makkum also contributed to the album. It was with this very group that de Boer began his musical journey as a seven-year-old child. His eighty-one-year-old father still performs with the ensemble and therefore also appears on the album. Hallelujah Makkum has existed for 125 years, and the people of the Frisian Islands regard the group as a local cultural treasure.

A key piece on the album is the musical adaptation of the poem De dood (“Death”). It was written by a Dutch poet who adopted the pseudonym M. Vasalis in order to conceal her female identity from the public. Critics have described the song as sounding like “a chess match between the author and the Grim Reaper with a scythe.” De Boer’s own lyrics are similarly dark, including Pine en tiid (“Pain and Time”) and De tút yn de betonnen wolken (“The Kiss in the Concrete Clouds”). De Boer’s vocals and guitar are powerfully complemented by Xavier Charles’s clarinet. His improvisations are extremely dynamic, often unfolding into long expansive passages followed by soaring outbursts. Together with de Boer, they create a world full of magic, space, sound, songs, and silence.

Arnold de Boer: guitar, vocals
Xavier Charles: clarinet
Harald Austbø: cello
Ineke Duivenvoorde: drums