LYENN

Frederic “Lyenn” Jacques has toured the world extensively as bass player iof the late Mark Lanegan. Together with Bert Dockx and Steven Cassiers - Fred Lyenn makes up for 1/3rd of the jazzrock trio Dans Dans. He has also had the opportunity to share his own music on tour – in Europe, USA and even China – and has moved people with his art wherever he has been. 

In 2009 LYENN’s critically acclaimed debut album 'The Jollity Of My Boon Companion’, was our first induction into the mysterious, willful world of LYENN and the remarkable musicians (like Shahzad Ismaily, Marc Ribot and Joel Hamilton) that surrounded him. 2011 saw the release of the equally beautiful EP ‘Vowels Fade First’ as an intermezzo but a new full album was on the back burner for a while, due to touring and some life-altering events.

When recording his second full album “Slow Healer”(2016), the worthy successor to his debut, Iceland proved to be the perfect canvas for his fragile music and likewise state, and led to a collaboration with not only his faithful companion Shahzad Ismaily but also Mùm cellist Gyda Valtysdottir and drummer Julian Sartorius. On these recordings LYENN’s music sounds pure and honest. Lucid tones are held together by a sparse use of instruments. Nothing is forced neither planned. Spontaneity, freedom and improvisation are key, to step into a dialogue with his audience.

And no matter how much we like to see LYENN play bass with Mark Lanegan or lead Dans Dans, time has come for him to let us in again on the songs that have been lurking inside him all these years. In 2020 we can join ‘Adrift’ and follow his flow. The album was recorded completely live in Iceland, again with Shazaad Ismaily. It contains some of the timid singer-songwriter, a multilingual Jeff Buckley on piano or Nick Drake on bouzouki. Miniature landscapes loom out of the fog, reminiscent of late Talk Talk or Mark Hollis' solo work. His pop music is refined like David Sylvian's, even if it is just two notes sometimes. ‘Adrift’ comes straight out of the life of Fred Lyenn Jacques. He is a searcher, never and always sure of himself. He surrenders himself to the music and passes it on to us, with a lot of patience and fortune in the form of a record. Like ‘Adrift’, and nothing else. (Released 10.01.2020 on WasteMyRecords)