> "Gehen"
> "Sekunden"

There is no other instrument which experienced such a glorious renaissance over the last couple of years like the piano. Heavily tempered with or as pure as possible: the piano has re-established itself as a driving force in innovative music. Ever since the release of their first album in 2004, Swod have been among the most respected acts in this genre which many falsely label „neo classical“. With „Drei“, Swod take their unique sound to a new level. „Sans Peau“ for instance, a piece of gold for every DJ with an open mind, perfectly sets the stage for the new album. With heavy 808 toms, the right amount of noise and distortion and one of the most catchy hooklines of all times, the track is a perfect example of how the two Berlin-based musicians have finetuned, taken apart and reassembled both their style of composing and cutting-edge production. Fear not, though, „Drei“ is a carefully crafted evolution of the well-established Swod sound. It’s all there, and more. The melancholy of the piano, found sounds, delicate bass and guitar, the always present samples of a woman we all love and worship. For the first time, however, „Drei“ showcases inspirations and influences more prominently which had been present in the band’s earlier work, but which had been somewhat carefully buried. A deep love for the minimalists, which gives tracks like „Hellerau“ or „I Am Here“ an almost mechanical, sequenced feel, opening up Swod’s body of work to a whole new audience.
We at CCO think „Drei“ is pretty amazing. And we hope you’ll like it, too.

> "Sekunden"
> "Drei"

Translated as 'walk', "gehen" represents a labour of love from two musicians experienced in the art of seductive and evocative music making. having firstworked together producing live soundtracks to silent movies, Oliver Doerell and Stephan Wöhrmann tread a delicate board of crystalline piano cascades and the sort of subtle electronic tinkering you can barely recognise or absorb in one sitting. It's fitting that the pair are so used to tailor-making their
harmonious shards of sound to moving imagery, "gehen" evokes a plethora of half forgotten films and life experiences offered up in glimpses in the back of your mind.
if you can imagine a sitting specially programmed by film directors Théo Angelopoulos or Krzysztof Kieslowski, you'll have some idea of what to expect.

> "Gehen"
> "Drei"

If there's been one positive trend emerging from the ruins of what just to be called electronica over the last couple of years, it has been the comeback of acoustic instruments, especially the piano. There is a whole new generation of young musicians belnding their electronic visions with their acoustic visions, their software tricks with the sheer craftsmanship of playing traditional instruments. Swod without a doubt are among the founding fathers of this new, almost neo-classical approach and the success of their debut "Gehen" only proved them right.
"Sekunden" is more than a simple follow-up, more than what bands just do keep on recording and eventually coming up with a second album, even though it is made of the same ingredients: Wöhrmann's piano and drums, Doerell's guitar bass and electronics. "We worked the same way like we did on 'Gehen'", Wöhrmann says. "I would record the piano and pass the the files on to Oliver. Then he would add something on top, give it back to me recording Swod is like playing pingpong."
And yet "Sekunden" is bigger than even the band's die-hard fans could have hoped for. The melodies are catchier, the bass is tighter, the electronics catch the general mood of the tracks even better and the drums, in all their subtlety, are funkier. On tracks like "Ja" or "Belgien", the voice of a long dead cinema icon perfectly sets the mood, "Deer" feels like a long-awaited breeze in the blistering heat, the title track "Sekunden" brings back dreamy memories of the long-gone ambient tradition of the late 70s, "Insects" kindly disturbes the listener with it's delicate mixture of field-recordings, warm synth patterns and almost sequenced piano and "Patinage", in all it's speed and glory, lets all Swod is famous for culminate in an endless loop of beauty. Then the piano fades and all one can do is to start from the beginning.