Light and Darkness

Jozef van Wissem’s originality as a lute player and Jim Jarmusch’s genuine skills in guitar and cinematic composition are enchanting to listen to and rebellious towards standard music contemporaries. The chemistry between these two on their new instrumental record, An Attempt to Draw Aside the Veil, is like nothing else out there right now.

Promoting the sonic tribal ideologies of the West through vibrating strings, ambient sequences and dreamy textures, this record is quite personal and touching. It provokes the feelings of a satisfied outsider to society. This is a reoccurring theme in many films that Jarmusch works on. “White Horse” provokes a dark and eerie mood as amped up lute and guitar melodies ride with growling bass lines. The song progressively gets more intense until it loses control of its sounds, remaining disorientated until everything slowly re-joins at the end.

“Dark Matter” and “Lost Continent” are darker in taste as they continue with elongated and stretched out melancholic tones. Though interesting, the constant lower frequencies can become tiresome and monotonous with no breathing room. It’s more tracks like “Unclouded Path” and “Final Initiation” that truly captivate with their classical guitar patterns. Extremely beautiful and dreamy, the melodic progressions become addicting as both tracks close in. It feels as if you are at the very tip of the musician’s finger. You can even hear faint metallic feedbacks from the plucked strings.

“The Two Paths” is a track that really solidifies van Wissem and Jarmusch’s experimental approach to their music. A truly edgy and cool composition, Jarmusch’s cinematic background is clearly heard in the track’s slow structures and A Nightmare Before Christmas vibe, whilst van Wissem brings emotion and passion to keep rhythm. This isn’t the first time they have worked together on music as van Wissem contributed to the score of Jarmusch’s film Only Lovers Left Alive. Even certain sounds in this record seem sparsely recycled from their previous songs together like “The Mystery of Heaven.”

“When the Sun Rises Do You Not See a Round Disc of Fire” closes the project with distorted lengthened fuzzy guitars. At first, the song shows potential, however ultimately falls a bit flat given the unchanging progressions. It’s the vocal sample at the end that adds some new element to the whole album. An alien-like, computer-sounding man spews out words “the creating, the preserving and the destroying powers,” inviting an unspoken conversation about the meaning of this record.

In all, An Attempt to Draw Aside the Veil is a very personal album where the two talented artists really reach out to pull you in. Cinematic in progression and impressive in articulation, van Wissem and Jarmusch create an introspective way into their visionary minds.