Jozef van Wissem
When Shall This Bright Day Begin

It is usually believed that there is necessarily an opposition between classical music, which is considered the result of a tradition widespread in the Western world and in a period from 1550 to 1900, and what is defined as popular music, which in Italian we call 'musica leggera', which in practice would be a kind of macro-genre in which all the other genres (such as rock music or metal, blues, and jazz, for example) that do not belong to classical music or 'traditional' music would be included.

Of course, what we can at this point define as 'modern' music has a popularity and diffusion far greater than classical music. Everyone, even those who don't want to, inevitably listens to light music every day of their life. You can listen to light music because you are a fan or because it is played on the radio or television, or on the internet, or simply if you are walking down the street or are in a shop, a supermarket or inside an office or a public administrative structure. It's clear that there is not necessarily a contradiction between classical and modern music, even if it is a general opinion that those who listen to one are generally not interested in the other and indeed are firm and decisive opponents and severe critics.

As far as I'm concerned, I don't listen to and can say I've never listened to classical music, even though obviously I have nothing against what, after all, is part of our cultural heritage (and this is also particularly true for us Italians). I simply prefer to listen to other things, and I don't think there is a specific reason other than that which is simply connected to my personal preferences and tastes. I make a choice: but isn't that what we always do, when we listen to music or in all (or almost) other things in the course of our existence. Obviously, it goes the same for everyone, just as it may happen that there are people who listen to both classical and light music and manage to be passionate about both. On this matter, I wonder if the fact I am not interested in classical music has to do with the fact that I generally consider it something that belongs to the past. A consideration, after all, erroneous, if we consider that even today there are people who play classical music as well as composers. In any case, I don't want to consider mine as a form of snobbishness, and at the same time, I don't consider someone else as a 'snob' if they declare themselves exclusively a listener of classical music. Obviously, it's not like that. Or at least, it's not always like that.

Thus it can also happen that there are moments when these two seemingly distant worlds meet and end up merging with each other in a continuity that is not only historical and in what constitutes a compromise and something that could be appreciated by listeners tied to both genres, and this for the approach to music which in this case definitely finds its roots in classical music, for the musician's training, and because the result has those aspects that can instead be considered referable to pop music or in this particular case to experimental folk music.

Jozef van Wissem is a Dutch minimalist composer and a lute player based in Brooklyn, United States of America. He is not a new name in the international music scene. On the contrary, he has already gained a certain fame and also due to his long and fruitful collaboration with director Jim Jarmusch with whom he recorded three records and played around Europe and the USA. Considering also the fact that van Wissem has some practice regarding the creation of soundtracks for films, he has been awarded several times for his works and for what is generally considered as hypnotic music and on the edge between what can be an emotional involvement or the cause of a certain state of unrest. The most important recognition, which among other things has to do with his collaboration with Jim Jarmusch, was certainly in 2013 when the composer and lute player was awarded at the Cannes festival for the soundtrack of the film 'Only Lovers Left Alive', a vampire film by Jarmusch and with a cast composed of Tom Hiddleston, Tilda Swinton, and Mia Wasikowska. It's not a great film in my opinion, but something that can certainly be interesting for the atmospheres created (and this thanks also to van Wissem's music) and something unmissable for the director's fans. By the way, if by any chance you are interested in viewing, I point out the presence in a scene of a performance by the USA psych band White Hills.

This introduction to the figure of Jozef van Wissem probably explains why I consider this artist as what could be considered a kind of 'medium' between two seemingly very distant worlds, meeting in this which is his latest album, titled 'When Shall This Bright Day Begin' released via Incunabulum Records last February, worth noting among other things also for the presence of the pop star and American singer of Russian origins Zola Jesus.

The intent is stated: Jozef wants to bring the magical sound of the lute within reach of a wider audience and, if possible, take another step forward in a path that should lead to the fusion, the involvement of the sound of this instrument in a dimension more associated with light music. Apparently, it seems like a difficult task to accomplish, but one must consider that we are dealing with a particularly talented and intelligent musician and also thanks to his collaboration with his partner Jim Jarmusch, truly quite in tune with pop culture. All reasons why here this album, which after all is nothing but a lute played by van Wissem himself and a complex of effects and samples added in the studio, works. So in the end, we can well consider that Jozef has, after all, succeeded in what was his initial objective.

In truth, what really matters is the atmospheres created by the sound of the lute, giving the songs in general a sound that is at the same time dark, mysterious, and evocative, which could refer to those of artists like Marissa Nadler or Alela Diane. I don't know if we can also define these sounds as in some way gothic. Surely, from the very first track, 'To Lose Yourself Forever Is Eternal Happiness', we are immediately immersed in a magical dimension where the sound of the lute is accompanied by the distant echo of Zola Jesus's voice, an artist I generally admit not to consider too much, but whom in this case I particularly appreciated and considered a good partner for the success of the project. The thing, if possible, is even more evident in 'Ruins', where the artist's vocal performance, with a perfectly Diamanda Galas-style approach, is a key element in the success of what could be defined as a perfect folk ballad with dark and enveloping tones.

But the dominant element, needless to say, is van Wissem's lute sound and his ability in using his skills to create good songs of what could be considered experimental folk. A particular and probably unique approach, evident in songs like 'You Can't Remain Here', or in the melody of the beautiful 'Detachment', sounds that refer to a certain 1960s folk music and at the same time to the tradition of American guitar primitivism and up to artists like Michael Gira or brilliant composers like Sir Richard Bishop and his Sun City Girls. 'The Purified Eye of the Soul Is Placed in the Circle of the Eternal Sun' and 'On the Incomparable Nobility of Earthly Suffering', accompanied by a dialogue, a spoken monologue by van Wissem himself, show his abilities as a performer and soundtrack composer, while the last track, 'Death of the Ego', somehow relocates the lute to its original dimension for what are echoes of medieval sounds in this folk ballad and given the time of the compositions and the sound choices of the instrument.

An album like this finally manages to break not only the barriers between classical and light music but also those that may have been raised by elements of space and time and despite the sound of the songs might seem melancholic, dark, or even sad and desperate, in truth, listening to them we feel a certain sense of tranquility and reconciliation and we feel as if we are cradled in an endless dream.