Smerz by Smerz
(Thursday, June 6th) - Norwegian duo Smerz release Tidligere den dagen, a 32-minute choir piece that unites eight human voices across a digital composition, a meeting between choral music, trap and footwork. Stream the project in its entirety here. Watch the accompanying videos for every track on Tidligere den dagen here.
An initial version of Tidligere den dagen debuted during Ultima Festival at the MUNCH Museum in Oslo in September 2023, but today Smerz and GAEA release a 24-track studio recorded version of the performance along with sheet music and backtrack files on the Smerz label Shopping Records, allowing for choirs to perform the piece at their own will (download here).
On Tidligere den dagen we see Catharina Stoltenberg and Henriette Motzfeldt of Smerz experimenting with the intersection of classical and electronic music methods. On their 2021 critically-acclaimed debut album Believer, the duo actively worked to integrate classical music’s freer sense of timing into their computer-based process. For Tidligere den dagen Motzfeldt and Stoltenberg wrote the entire choir piece on the computer before translating it into sheet music. The duo composed the piece using digital instruments including mandolin, handbells, flute, referee whistle, a pendulum clock, strings, human voices, triangle, snare, clap and kick drum. Accompanying the music are lyrics of soliloquies spoken by the 8 characters, performed by the eight voices of Norwegian vocal ensemble GAEA. The monologues span the characters' everyday lives, shifting between dreams, thoughts, and imagined conversations and speeches. As the eight voices speak, Smerz explores concepts of individuality and togetherness.
Listen to Smerz’ latest NTS show here, where they premiere Tidligere den dagen and play related music.
Earlier this year Smerz ventured into the intoxicating world of pop and fashion for their EP ALLINA, a collaboration with label ALL-IN studio, which depicts the musical narrative of a fictitious pop star caught between vigor and collapse, paparazzi flicker and 24/7 spotlights. After ALLINA, the duo released a stand-alone single “Shining Star”, and in 2023 they contrived production to NewJeans’ 2023 Get Up EP. Currently Smerz are back in the studio working on new music, examining all the ways in which they can continue to present their boundless sonic world. | 
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