ssabæ – Le Roi Est L’Oiseau

ssabæ is a “nebula of friends gathering in studios, meadows and tiny apartments all over France.” Le Roi Est L’Oiseau (The King and Mister Bird) follows up the group’s 2022 surrealist psilocybin album azurescens with a new collection of birdsong inspired chamber jazz, chanson, music concrète, and experimental electronics. The group’s sound is a unique mixture of organic and synthetic with field recordings modulated through synthesizers, subtle but detailed effects processing, alongside traditional instruments like the Middle Eastern duduk, nylon-string guitar, harmonium, saxophone, and clarinet. The title is in reference to a film of the same name that’s regarded as one of the great masterpieces of French animation and cited by the Japanese directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata as an influence. The film is available to watch on Archive.

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