СОЮЗ (SOYUZ) - Force of the Wind (2022 Mr Bongo Vinyl LP)

СОЮЗ (SOYUZ) - Force of the Wind | Vinyl LP - 2022 Mr Bongo (MRBLP262, Optimal Media GmbH)

СОЮЗ (SOYUZ) — composer and vocalist Alex Chumak, multi-instrumentalist Mikita Arlou and drummer Anton Nemahai — had spent their first two albums working through the possibilities of jazz-oriented pop music. For their third record, the focus sharpened. Force of the Wind is the sound of a Belarusian trio absorbed in 1970s MPB — the Clube da Esquina circle, the orchestral productions of Arthur Verocai, the particular quality of Brazilian vocal harmony — and attempting to build something from that tradition rather than simply reproduce it. The songs are in Russian and Portuguese and were recorded at Studio 42 in Minsk between March and November 2021.

The album's wider reach required collaborators. Kate NV, the Russian avant-pop musician and producer, sings on "I Knew It" (A3). Sessa, the São Paulo-based singer-songwriter, co-wrote and sings on "How Are You" (A5), his vocals recorded separately in Brazil. Flute across several tracks is by Gabriel Milliet, a Netherlands-based Brazilian multi-instrumentalist. String arrangements were written by Chumak and classically trained composer Simon Hanes, who also conducted the string players — Kate Goddard and Ruby Wang on violins, Hannah Selin on viola, Ansel Cohen on cello — with those sessions captured at Gary's Electric Studio in Brooklyn in August 2021. Chumak handled the final mix. The album is dedicated to Valentin Chumak, his father, who died during the making of it. SOYUZ left Belarus in early 2022, weeks before the album's October release, as the political situation made their return impossible.