Close-up version of Aelva up!
Aelva has been out for a week, and it’s been truly heartwarming to receive all your feedback, messages, and comments. Thanks so much for listening and sharing - it means a lot!
It’s been an interesting challenge to make singles out of this album, which is actually very much a through-composed whole. All the pieces are connected, so releasing them individually feels a bit like publishing a single chapter from a novel. Some context is inevitably missing and the task became: how do we make these tracks work on their own, outside the full structure?
The last several Afenginn albums have leaned toward long-form album-format, where the idea of “tracks” or “singles” doesn’t always make sense. Movements I is no different in that regard, but we still wanted to explore what could happen if we treated the material as standalone releases. So, we ended up with no less than four singles - and each one gets its own alternate version, which we call Close-Up Versions.
The idea behind the Close-Up versions was to zoom in on specific layers or moods within the piece - isolate certain instruments, textures, or energies. Not all of them turned out that way, though. Sometimes something else stepped forward once we started pulling the pieces apart.
Now the first one is out: Aelva (Close-Up Version).
It offers a darker, more rhythm-driven take on the original. The 11/8 pulse is reimagined through a deep four-on-the-floor beat, shifting the focus toward physicality and tension. It's more intimate, hypnotic - drawing out the emotional undercurrents through a tighter, more immersive mix.