Vilhelm Bromander - Aurora (2022)

The word "aurora" is derived from the name of the Roman goddess of the dawn, Aurora, who travelled from east to west announcing the coming of the sun. Vilhelm Bromander’s new suite titled aurora similarly signals the arrival of a new chapter in the Swedish bass player, composer and improviser’s creative endeavours.

aurora is an album of ten pieces written for an extended woodwind ensemble. The music has a gentle, fragile and somewhat naive sound – perhaps a result of half the ensemble exploring new instruments (Bromander himself plays soprano saxophone). The instrumental identities are blurred; reeds, bowed strings and organ form together a warm, inviting, collective sounding body.

The compositions themselves feel like glimpses of light, air and mystery. They are open-ended, floating, yet each composition still explores a specific theme, mood, or feeling – like trying to describe the scent of a flower, or the feeling of the wind gently caressing your neck. “I embraced trying to compose music as romantic and beautiful as I was able to” says Bromander” but contrasting this by playing it strictly, consciously not syncing breaths and phrasing. That tension, between the strict playing and the romantic compositions is for me a key to this music: like drone music cut up into smaller sections and pieces that when combined create melody.”

Vilhelm Bromander is an active member of the Stockholm experimental scene. His work explores sound, texture, intonation and timbre and he draws inspiration from a wide variety of influences. He’s a keen collaborator, a member of many ensembles (Christer Bothén 3 and a duo with Fredrik Rasten to name a few), and has contributed to albums by Kali Malone, Sean McCann, and Kajsa Lindgren. He also runs the label Differ Records.