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Dost 1

29/06/2021Hamburg's Anatolian Psych-Pop Outfit Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek Unveil The 1st Part Of Their 2nd Album
 

Turn your dials to the latest six-track release by "Anatolian psych-pop sensations" Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek, who are back with a new batch of musical lightning. Last Friday, the Hamburg-based group unveiled its second album, "the first of a two-part series to be released in 2021" via Bongo Joe/Catapulte Records. Having gained well-deserved and steadily increasing worldwide acclaim for their "contemporary takes on traditional Anatolian folk ballads, whilst drawing on a heady mix of psychedelia, jazz and the omnivorous pop universe of the present day," Derya Yıldırım "and her trans-continental band of brothers and sisters" are no doubt a psychedelic force to be reckoned with. 

Back in 2017, we did an enthusiastic write-up on their debut EP "Nem Kaldı" ('What Remains?') and followed that up with their one-off track "Üç Kız Bir Ana" ('Three Girls One Mother') as well as their catchy, upbeat 7" single "Oy Oy Emine" b/w "Kürk" in 2018. In 2019, the group released its debut longplayer "Kar Yağar" ('Snow Falls'), "inspired in part by the legendary Turkish poet Nâzım Hikmet Ran," quite literally catapulting them to new heights. Now, two years later, Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek are back with another selection of stunningly arranged, tight-knit psychedelic reworks rooted in Anatolian traditions.

Led by Yıldırım's powerful, goosebumps-inducing vocals and dizzying bağlama virtuosity, "Dost 1" ('Friend 1') is another powerful testament to the band's undeniable chemistry and heartfelt musicality. The album embarks on a four-something-minute instrumental, psychedelic journey, fittingly entitled "The Trip", including a more pensive, sentimental yet gorgeously atmospheric layover on "Haydar Haydar", the infectiously dancey and previously released "Deniz Dalgasız Olmaz", the yearning, plaintive and melancholy vibe of "Hastane Önü", the more folksy yet optimistic "Hop Çerkez" and ending on the almost cosmic, organ-led "Sunrise". “We always want to push our sounds further, and constantly evolve,” says Yıldırım.

That being said, we invite you to stream/buy the full first album part on Bandcamp or tune in via the player below. While you're at it. you might also view the official companion video to "Haydar Haydar".

Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek are:

Greta Eacott (drums, percussion)
Antonin Voyant (guitar, bass guitar, flute)
Graham Mushnik (organ, synthesizers, clavinet, bass guitar)
Derya Yıldırım (bağlama, vocals)

AUTHOR: Lev Nordstrom