Midway through the year, Phrases found himself trapped between the Covid-regulation borders of Cape Town and Berlin, stranded in Utrecht: with a green tent and music gear. When faced with deciding between a cramped kitchen-lounge floor or an absurdly expensive Airbnb, a large inflatable mattress and a power line were borrowed, and illegal, hidden accomodation and studio tent-space was built on the roof of an apartment building. If you know utrecht; you may know the street; Sweder van Zuylenweg.
As journalist for the CCC, N. Trethowan, writes: “From the birds, to the patter on the tent to the more intimate vocal samples, the experience is vivid. I close my eyes and hear the rain of Utrecht and this solitary exploration of the soul in ‘roof-tent alone’ or feel the sun on my skin in ‘Kerosene’. ”
Wrapping his tent in a 20m long string of fairy-lights brought from Cape Town, and carefully mapping out his recording gear, Phrazes spent almost a month living in his own private canopy, next to those only of bird-heavy trees and the sky, accessible via a ladder bolted to the outer wall of the building.
You can hear this ladder being climbed at the start of ‘tent, alone’. There were strings of days of almost total solitude which kept him working in the tent, along with the light Dutch rain, very audible on the 3rd track ’tent, alone’, improvised into his long-suffering Iphone 8 mic, to send to a friend back home. ”
DEMOTAPE 1 is a return to experimental rock, that is as brilliant in its rough rawness as it is stark in its comparisons. With the sense of exploration and joviality while hidden in the everyday norm, Phrazes’ debut is a psychedelic and exciting reminder of how much talent has come to the fore out of COVID quarantines and the weird times that have followed. ” – the CCC
Phrazes is on Spotify, Apple Music, etc, and is releasing new music in early 2022.