Mei by Matthijs Kouw

Titled after the Dutch narrative poem ‘Mei’ (Dutch for the month of May) by Herman Gorter, Matthijs Kouw’s new release presents sonic landscapes evoking visions of both the future and the past, often simultaneously.

Sometimes described as a ‘poem about poetry’, Gorter’s ‘Mei’ portrays the love between Mei and the poet. Its opening lines describe a new sound of spring with remnants of nostalgia for springs past. ‘Mei’ has become renowned for its aesthetic radicalism, which features vivid sensory images evoking the Dutch landscape, eroticism, and a melancholic meditation on the cyclic nature of life. Thus, ‘Mei’ holds a significant place in the innovative ‘Movement of the 1880s’ that featured Gorter as one of its members.

Kouw has crafted a suite of delicate weaves; dense yet fragile; ghostly images floating forth from within.


De waterheuvels om zich en een toren
(The water hills around them and a tower)

Rondom hem donker, waarin hij neerzat
(Darkness around him, in which he sat down)

En vindt me in de nevel
(And find me in the fog)

Experimental music imprint and concert series that ran between 2016 and 2022.

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