Esben Willems - Glowing Darkness (2024)

"I've always been fascinated, inspired, and driven by limitations and I've always encouraged others to do what they can with what they have," said Willems of his solo outing. "But, I've not been to good at following that advice myself, so this album is just that. A collection of misfit song ideas that kept lingering, songs I eventually felt I wanted to record.

"And I wanted to do it all myself; instead of asking more capable friends to contribute on instruments I feel lost in space on – and I have the luxury of knowing quite a few insanely talented humans – I wanted to push my own limits and see what I'd be capable of within my plenitude of limitations and self-doubt. It might to some extent be rudimentary and rough, but that's also what I like about it. A companion sentiment through the whole process – and any creative process – is that we all have so much in common, so if I like it, someone else probably does as well.”