Žaltys by Raphael Rogiń​ski

The new album by Polish guitarist Raphael Rogiński is named after the grass snake Žaltys, a revered household spirit in Lithuanian folklore, and explores themes of Eastern European mythology and nature. As a conduit of cultural exchange, "Žaltys" connects with Rogińsk’s previous work, most recently his critically acclaimed 2023 album "Talàn".

"Žaltys" is deeply rooted in the rolling hills of the Suwałki region, in the northeast of Poland, where Rogiński spent childhood vacations and became intrigued by the music he heard from nearby Lithuania. Later, it was on the border with Dzūkija in Lithuania that he bought his first electric guitar, recording soundscapes on a four-track recorder in the forests; he returns to those techniques on this album.

Yet while Eastern European folk music is a constant, enigmatic inspiration here—the track titles derive from various Lithuanian plant names—"Žaltys" is (like all of Rogiński’s work) impossible to pin down, drawing on jazz, American primitivism, and a pervasive mysticism. Infused with a specific culture and place, the album contains a sense of memory, time passing, wonder, and loss. The music, Rogiński says, “is a return to the moment when my brother and I laid down in a boat near the Lithuanian border, floating on a lake at night and looking at the stars in the sky, which always seemed closer to us there.”

Working with Warsaw musician and producer Piotr Zabrodzki, Rogiński created what he describes as “guitar piano”. Rogiński and Zabrodzki made the whole studio resonate while recording, to achieve a sound “as if the wind was playing the strings”. He continues, “We connected some low-voltage effects to powerful old amps and a Leslie speaker, and put unusual sets of strings on the guitars.” For the first time on a solo album, Rogiński employs overdubs to create layers on several tracks, while other compositions are pared back, variously stark, harsh or simply beautiful, exploring his deep relationship with his instrument.

Making a guest appearance—including on the first single “Šilinis Viržis”— is musician and singer Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė, a member of Merope, a band which draws more directly on Lithuanian folk forms. The two artists have been friends for years, but had never managed to record together, even though they share similar inspirations (and recently performed live at Unsound and Ephemera). Now Jurgelevičiūtė sings and plays the kanklės—a Lithuanian plucked string instrument or chordophone closely related to the zither—on two songs on the album. Zabrodski also plays piano on “Šilinis Viržis".

Rogiński has turned the mastering over to Joe Talia, a frequent collaborator of Oren Ambarchi who is known for his skills with guitar recordings. The cover is by Marcin Janusz, a Krakow painter who, like Rogiński, finds inspiration in nature and the human body’s relationship with the world.

Following "Žaltys", at the end of September, Unsound will reissue Rogiński's landmark album "Plays John Coltrane and Langston Hughes"—out of print on CD and never before released on vinyl or digitally.

Reviews:

"...this album suits our wildly flowering season as its days slowly shorten, reminding us of the fullness of life and its innate melancholy." Jude Rogers, The Guardian - Folk Album of the Month

"...this is a landmark album... Mostly wordless poetry of the highest order, this is an LP that, in its wanderings, comes near as anything I’ve heard to expressing something of the ineffable all around us." Bernie Brooks, The Quietus - Album of the Week

"Žaltys, named for a Lithuanian snake spirit, encodes that spirit in the recording itself: sidewinding, slithering, shedding its skin at every turn." Philip Sherburne, Futurism Restated - Record of the Week

"Rogiński taps into the mainline of Eastern European mythology and unconsciousness while drawing on inspiration from folk music and American Primitive guitar - reinterpreting these guitar idioms by developing his own vocabulary, fuelled by pancultural visions." Miloš Hroch, The Wire

"Rogiński premiered this material with Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė in 2023 at Unsound. Since then, it has lost none of its mystery and uniqueness. Rogiński's albums are sometimes delicate, and this one is even more delicate; they are also intimate, and this one is intimate to the highest degree." Bartek Chaciński, Polityka 5/6 stars

"Like a mirage at the end of an open road, Raphael Rogiński’s music is pensive, hypnotic, and oftentimes bewildering. Raised in Poland, his twisted and writhing meditations on Eastern European folk music, American primitivism, and fuzzed-out psychedelic rock coalesce into sonic masterpieces... His latest album, Žaltys, draws a direct line from the mystical folk music of his childhood to the improvisational bands of his adulthood, creating a spellbinding sketch of Rogiński’s personal history throughout Eastern Europe." Ben Arthur, Bomb Magazine

"Raphael Rogiński digs into Eastern European mythology on his gorgeous latest full-length, shimmering traces of archaic folk music, American primitive guitar, jazz and ambient forms into a dreamy meditation on memory, wonder and loss. Crucial midnight listening..." - Boomkat

Guitarist, composer and performer, improviser, animator of culture and researcher of musical folklore. Educated in jazz and classical music, he also expanded his education by musicology and ethnomusicology. The marriage of these two paths is a determinant of the style of his work both in terms of composition and performance.

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