Olga Mysłowska - Leggerezza (2023) Hi-Res

"Lightness" can be understood in many ways. However, the music of the Leggerezza project created by Olga Mysłowska, Michał Pepol and Patryk Zakrocki defies any dictionary definition. The unique language of the band is a combination of extremely expressive, baroque vocals, a delicate and at the same time exceptionally characteristic sound of a prepared acoustic guitar, electronics and an unorthodox cello. Huge respect for tradition and well-trodden paths run parallel here with a passion for experiments and never-ending sound searches.

It all started in 2021 with my solo experiments on acoustic guitar preparation - working with this new instrument and granular delay was the beginning and trigger for further thinking ... Due to the "shiny" nature of the new sound - closer to the harpsichord and zither than guitar I felt that I needed long and soft sounds, and the human voice is perfect for that… - Patryk Zakrocki recalls the beginnings of the project.

This is how Olga Mysłowska appeared, followed by Michał Pepol. We know each other and work together on various occasions for years, so I didn't have to explain what I meant for too long. Olga, after a few tips, simply improvised her amazing vocal parts, which were released on the album in virtually unchanged form. When it was ready, the idea of inviting Michał to join the band came very naturally and his multi-layered cello lines and various unusual sounds perfectly closed the whole thing – continues the musician.

Leggerezza, in addition to original sound solutions, is also a textual layer that is not accidental and important in the context of the whole, which is made up of... fragments of Italo Calvino's work selected by Olga Mysłowska. He is one of my absolute favorite writers. It is a wonderful, total and ambitious, yet light and brilliant literature. There's something agile, precise and clear about his style, and that's what I'd like to do with music. In his series of lectures, he described various parameters of literature – including lightness – as desirable on the one hand, and on the other as somewhat frivolous, treated with indulgence, and yet so important in communication! We wouldn't be able to stand it in a world of heavy works alone - sums up Zakrocki.

So what is Leggerezza like? This music is very lively, sparkling with ideas, thoroughly original, fresh, and at the same time toned down, elegant, arranged and avoiding overblown experimentation and excess. The whole is complemented by a fantastic painting by Joanna Karpowicz, which decorates the cover.