Stephan Micus - Traces in the Sand (2026)

Stephan Micus is an extraordinary musical traveller, collecting instruments around the world and then making his unique musical compositions from them. This album features a dozen instruments from Borneo, Japan, India, Armenia, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Botswana, Morocco, Ireland, Switzerland and Bavaria. Celebrating the richness of the sea, it’s his 27th solo album for ECM.

Micus has always been influenced by the natural world and his music has been inspired by deserts, forests, thunder and more. Traces in the Sand doesn’t attempt to depict the sea, but reflects on the feelings its continually changing state evokes.

“To focus totally on a composition necessarily narrows down your perception,” Micus says. “So when I go to the sea and see this wide expanse of water and a big horizon it is like an incredible medicine. Wide spaces have always fascinated me, and I try to incorporate them in my music. In this context the sea has been an invaluable teacher.”

Stephan Micus - Hang, Kalimba, Shakuhachi, Duduk, Indian Cane Flute, Sapeh, Bavarian Zither, Bodhran, Genbri, Dilruba, Sho, Chord Zither