The Swan Tokunbo
Album info
Album-Release:
2018
HRA-Release:
08.02.2019
Album including Album cover Booklet (PDF)
- 1 New June 04:16
- 2 Headlights 05:16
- 3 Somersault 03:21
- 4 Cast Away 04:26
- 5 Outer Space 05:00
- 6 Innocence 03:23
- 7 Rebecca 03:53
- 8 White Noise 03:15
- 9 The Swan 04:14
- 10 Words 03:56
- 11 Play Me A Song 04:00
Info for The Swan
TOKUNBO – the stages of her musical development follow the dramaturgy of her life. Following a successful career with the acoustic soul band Tok Tok Tok, the singer and songwriter re-entered the music scene as a solo artist in 2014, and now this second and highly acclaimed follow up solo album enriches the story of the journeying artist.
Just a glance at the cover of 'The Swan' hints at TOKUNBO's recent transformation: The dark hues have been replaced with lots of white space, effectively giving way to the eleven multi-faceted and highly colorful songs. While TOKUNBO’s solo debut ‘Queendom Come’ was a celebration of the lo-fi, highly-reduced production style, this second work is expansive with graceful soundscapes, whilst all the while staying true to the spirit of the debut album.
'The Swan' is more complex; atmospherically denser with finely crafted details. The understanding of space is of extraordinary significance here: The songs embody a distinct expansiveness, while at the same time remaining structurally tangible, thanks in no small part to the distinguished sound mixing of Marc Ebermann.
TOKUNBO is known to audiences and critics alike for her insistence on high quality sound, and 'The Swan‘ is no exception; even hi-fi connoisseurs will once again get their money's worth. The tonal textures range from lyrical strings to the playful use of vibes – all meticulously reproduced with extraordinary dynamics.
TOKUNBO has also remained faithful to her tried and true companions: Ulrich Rode once again shines on the guitar, Christian Flohr lends a pleasing warmth on the bass, Matthias 'Maze' Meusel creates a refreshingly unconventional percussion, and violinist and multi-instrumentalist Anne de Wolff gives the whole its final polish. And that’s a good thing, because clearly few musicians are able to reproduce such a complex palette whilst avoiding obscurity.
The result is a lyrical album, which captures the refined symbolism of the swan perfectly. Driven by the many changes in her own life, 'The Swan' reflects recent tranformation, including the birth of her first child. Underlined by grace and love, the beauty of 'The Swan' is in no way overly obvious. TOKUNBO always manages to retain her very own, mysterious nature, and despite all the versatility on display here, she has also kept her dark, sensual quality of music, a music which has been given the deserved lable Folk Noir.
TOKUNBO was the Voice of Tok Tok Tok, the highly acclaimed darling of the German jazz scene, with 13 albums, five German Jazz Awards and a Grand Prix SACEM to its name. With global tours and high-profile concerts with the NDR Pops Orchestra and the Babelsberg Filmorchestra - as well as tv guest appearances, amoungst them the prestigious talkshow 'WDR Zimmer Frei' and 'ARTE One Shot Not' - Tok Tok Tok shot from newcomer to household name in record time.
In 2014, TOKUNBO released her much-acclaimed, solo-debut album 'Queendom Come', together with a pan-European tour. Her new album 'The SWAN' gained a grant from German government’s ‘Initiative Musik’ foundation.
Tokunbo, vocals
Christian Flohr, bass
Matthias Meusel, percussion
Ulrich Rode, guitar, keyboards, programming
TOKUNBO
was the Voice of Tok Tok Tok, the highly acclaimed darling of the German jazz scene, with 13 albums, five German Jazz Awards and a Grand Prix SACEM to its name.
With global tours and high-profile concerts with the NDR Pops Orchestra and the Babelsberg Filmorchestra – as well as tv guest appearances, amongst them the prestigious talkshow ‚ 'WDR Zimmer Frei‘ and 'ARTE One Shot Not‘ – Tok Tok Tok shot from newcomer to household name in record time.
In 2014, TOKUNBO released her much-acclaimed, solo-debut album ‚Queendom Come‘, together with a pan-European tour. Her latest album 'The SWAN‘ which gained a grant from German government’s 'Initiative Musik‘ foundation has received significant media and critical attention, particularly from the quality music press. The vinyl edition sold out twice within a few months, and is fast becoming the demo album of choice within the HiFi industry.
The song 'White Noise‘ taken from this milestone album, recently won the UK Songwriting Contest 2018 in the category 'Best Video‘.
Booklet for The Swan