Altin Gun are coming to The Pearl in Vancouver on September 6 & 7! Get your tickets today, link in bio!
Dutch psychedelic quintet Al1n Gün return with their fi7h album, Garip – their most accomplished
and eclec1c release to date, and a hear>elt tribute to legendary Turkish folk-bard, Neşet Ertaş.
Since burs+ng onto the scene in 2018 with their debut album, On, Amsterdam-based Al+n Gün have
been at the vanguard of the 21st century revival of Turkish-influenced psychedelic grooves.
Coming straight out of the gate with a wah-wah and organ heavy sound that effortlessly captured the
spirit of Anatolian 70s psych-funk masters like Bariş Manço and Erkin Koray, they deepened and
expanded their palePe with 2021’s Yol, which brought synths and drum machines into the mix for a
more 80s-influenced dream-pop vibe.
But no maPer how far out they’ve gone, they’ve always maintained a strong link to the same
Anatolian folk tradi+ons that inspired those early pioneers. Founder and bassist, Jasper Verhuist says:
“We’re doing the same thing a lot of those ar+sts were doing, which is playing Turkish tradi+onals
and songs wriPen by folk ar+sts.”
Now, with their fi7h album, Garip, they’ve brought that connec1on to the folk source front and
centre, showcasing a collec1on of songs all originally wriJen by Turkish folk legend Neşet Ertaş.
Ertaş (1938-2012) was a revered and much-loved Turkish singer, lyricist and bağlama player, and a
modern-day embodiment of the ancient ashik tradi+on of the folk-bard-troubadour. Throughout his
long career, he recorded more than 30 albums and wrote hundreds of songs – some of which were
famously recorded by the likes of Bariş Manço and Selda Bağcan.
For Al1n Gün’s vocalist, keyboardist and bağlama player, Erdinç Eçevit, interpre1ng a suite of
Ertaş’s tunes is a chance to get back to his roots.
“Both of my parents are from Turkey, from the same area he is from,” he says. “It’s the music that I
grew up with. When I was five, six years old, my grandfather always had casseFes by Neşet Ertaş and
I used to listen to it all day long. Then I was too young to really understand the lyrics and the
meaning, but I really liked the melodies.
Now, years later, Eçevit has fully immersed himself in Ertaş’s lyrics – messages from the heart that
are, he says, “stories about what he’s facing in life. The Turkish tradiKonal music is the blues of the
Turkish people.”
Nowhere is this beJer exemplified than on ‘Gönul Daği,’ one of Ertaş’s most famous composi1ons,
here brought to life by Eçevit’s yearning, sensi1ve vocals.
“‘Gönul Daği’ is about the pain of love, the storms of the heart and the loneliness of longing,” says
Eçevit. “He’s expressing what rural Anatolia has always felt – that love is both sacred and sorrowful,
a force of nature.”
In Al+n Gün’s hands, the tune becomes a languid funk-rock crawl with watery guitar, a loping bassline
and a palpable hint of mystery deepened by luxuriant string arrangements provided by the
Stockholm Studio Orchestra.
The strings feature on several tracks, touching on influences including Egyp+an popular music,
Bollywood soundtracks and Turkish Arabesque. But, as Verhuist explains, there’s another touchstone
underpinning the sound. “There’s definitely a French Italian influence in those arrangements,” he
says.
It’s a prime example of Al1n Gün’s urge to cast their net wide and incorporate a far-reaching set of
magpie musical direc1ons.
Album opener, ‘Neredesin Sen,’ is a throbbing, bass-led vamp with a strong early-80s Indie flavour.
Closing track, ‘Bir Nazar Eyeldim,’ is a breathtaking ballad with Eçevit’s pleading vocals playing out
over lush synth arpeggios and a sparse electronic rhythm. Along the way, the band also touches on
Proggy vibes, with Eçevit gefng down and dirty on the synth’s pitch-bend, and a laid-back
Californian hippie-rock vibe. Check out Thijs Elzinga’s gorgeous slide guitar on the smouldering ‘Gel
Kaçma Gel’ to dig just how relaxed they can sound.
Fans of Altun Gün’s past work will find much to love too.
The Anatolian element is s+ll strong – and not just in Eçevit’s aching vocals. Eçevit’s +ght bağlama
figures are woven throughout, making a direct link back to those earliest influences on tracks like the
smoky ‘Niğde Bağlari,’ with its off-kilter folk rhythm and cavernous sense of the Anatolian steppes
stretching out for miles.
“It’s our most eclecKc album,” says Verhuist. “There’s a liFle bit of everything. The songs are harder
to label. We wanted to do something different than what we’ve done before. Less in your face, less
poppy, less obviously psych-rock. More just vibing.”
Garip is the sound of a band that’s constantly evolving A mature musical unit with nothing to
prove. And band that’s having a whole lot of fun.
AlSn Gün is
Erdinç Eçevit – vocals/synths/saz
Thijs Elzinga – guitar
Jasper Verhulst – bass
Chris Bruining – percussion
Daniel Smienk – drums