Joep Beving - Conatus (2018) [Hi-Res]

Following his first two solo albums, streaming sensation Joep Beving releases new reworks of his music by acclaimed and up-and-coming artists such as iconic “synth legend” Suzanne Ciani, CFCF, Tom Trago and more. Conatus features reworks of pieces from Solipsism and Prehension and also foreshadows his next solo album with a rework of one of Beving’s new tracks.

Beving invited a range of artists he knows and admires – Cello Octet Amsterdam, Suzanne Ciani, Tom Trago, Eefje de Visser, Colin Benders, Andrea Belfi, CFCF and Thomas Bloch – to rework his music in their own way. The results are new and original interpretations of tracks by Beving, woven together on Conatus to form a coherent album. As well as approaching legendary American electronic music pioneer Ciani, Beving was also keen to involve other musicians from his native Netherlands: “They’re all people I think easily hold their own on the international scene.”

Conatus, slated for release on September 7, is a further expansion of Beving’s desire to create a simple soundtrack to accompany our complex human emotions. Its title comes from the philosophical concept of conatus – an innate inclination of a thing to continue to exist and enhance itself. “If you see music as a living organism, then it’s something that will always adapt to new circumstances in order to stay present. This project is not about me. It is about the conatus of my music and for this album I’ve put their lives in other people’s hands.”

Beving can be seen sitting in the background, as if eavesdropping, captivated by what the eight virtuoso cellists have done with his music: “I love the cello as an instrument, and to hear eight of them playing together is just amazing.”

Joep Beving, piano