Szun Waves

Szun Waves is an improvisational group consisting of three esteemed musicians whose separate work is connected by progressive and experimental inclinations. The trio debuted with At Sacred Walls (2016) and went with a no-edits approach for New Hymn to Freedom (2018). They returned in 2022 with the more fully composed, collaborative Earth Patterns.

The group grew out of a collaboration between <a href="spotify:artist:3rVAnydRNnaQr24T3reJZg">Luke Abbott</a>, a producer and synthesizer player known primarily for solo releases through <a href="spotify:artist:15e0X6NuMsVuHi7AZhcfyI">James Holden</a>'s <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Border+Community%22">Border Community</a>, and saxophonist Jack Wyllie of <a href="spotify:artist:7sYipTRgDXS2JVOPEhRutx">Portico Quartet</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6dNltDcjWzekFw7BwvNLLI">Circle Traps</a>. The musicians added <a href="spotify:artist:0NGvgky9AxEoD5TQ0QKrAx">Laurence Pike</a>, drummer with <a href="spotify:artist:2cs7AEIdmEDL1QtcFFcYN2">Triosk</a> and Pivot/<a href="spotify:artist:6wG77Rz1cQYuKSoW7gaZkL">PVT</a>, and during three days in March 2015 recorded at <a href="spotify:artist:15e0X6NuMsVuHi7AZhcfyI">Holden</a>'s Sacred Walls studio in London. <a href="spotify:artist:3rVAnydRNnaQr24T3reJZg">Abbott</a> edited and mixed the raw material, and the following May issued the six-track result, At Sacred Walls, on his and Gareth Dobson's <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Buffalo+Temple%22">Buffalo Temple</a> label. For their second session, Szun Waves moved to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22The+Leaf+Label%22">The Leaf Label</a> and opted to forgo overdubs and edits. They recorded six improvisations, released in August 2018 as New Hymn to Freedom.

After their 2019 European tour, the trio spent three days improvising in the studio, with intentions to draw their next album from the sessions. However, the members were locked down in different parts of the world during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they decided to further develop the record, with help from <a href="spotify:artist:15e0X6NuMsVuHi7AZhcfyI">Holden</a> and producer/engineer David Pye. Three, an EP of non-album tracks from the New Hymn to Freedom sessions, appeared in 2020. The group's third full-length, Earth Patterns, arrived in 2022. ~ Andy Kellman & Paul Simpson, Rovi