CARL LIUNGMAN - AFFECTION & ABSENCE
Carl Liungman is a pianist and composer based in Southern Sweden who has created a musical style based on improvisation. He combines elements of Neoromanticism, Neoclassicism, modern Minimalism, Jazz, contemporary Film music scores, and Pop music to create emotive expressionistic pieces. He has a unique style and technique of his own that he developed after recognizing his ability to remember melodies, compose songs, and improvise on the piano. Carl has studied Classical and Jazz piano, Jazz theory, Musicology, Film music, and Composition under various teachers and professors. He has also written music for different projects such as theatre plays, short films, art installations, and poetry projects. Additionally, Carl has experience playing as a bar pianist in Sweden. His latest EP, 'AFFECTION & ABSENCE,' features four original piano pieces in a mix of Jazz and Neoclassical styles that tell a story about the hardships of love and intimacy through examination of absence and presence. Seeing music as a conversation of minds, expression comes naturally now to Carl Liungman. In addition to having the ability to transcend barriers, his instrumental playing depicts love, loss and the directions life tends to take. He started putting out music with his 2018 single, Brothers. In the incubation period of the pandemic-he crafted and put out two albums, Born in 2020 and Shine in 2022. Things we yearned for in isolation. With Affection & Absence, themes are depicted that all in the world connect with. To conclude, "With our hearts put together, may we feel." In conversation with Carl Liungman IMF got in touch with the pianist to venture into his mind and get further insights into his musical style and vision for Affection & Absence. Affection & Absence is a deeply emotional and carefully crafted piece of work. What was your vision for this album? Thank you! I wanted to express and depict the duality of my inner feelings of love and loss. The title piece ”Affection” came to me one day. The music just happened in front of my piano as I was improvising. The monotone flowing pulse in the left hand and the simple melody in the right hand that transform into some kind of sea of tones. Then back to the simplicity again. The playfulness and the painful nostalgia in interaction. It is all about my parenthood as a divorced father that gradually looses contact with my son. Hence the word "absence" in the EP title, ”Affection and Absence”. Being written around piano melodies, who would you state as your biggest influences for this project? Everything I play and compose is melody-making, even my minimalistic experimental works. I don’t know why but seem to have taken a lot of impressions from tv series soundtracks in my younger years in the 70s and 80s and further on. For example Joe Harnell’s ”The Lonely Man” as the theme song in the soundtrack of the 70s tv series ”The Incredible Hulk”. But also great themes as Bill Conti’s ”North and South” in the 80s. The biggest influence for specifically this project has been the late Swedish jazz pianist Esbjorn Svensson. And also the German pianist Nils Frahm. I am also inspired by jazz icon Bill Evans. In your opinion, how would you say minimalist instrumental music production differs from more contemporary trends in the industry? Minimalist instrumental music is often more rebellic in a way. And is like a great work of art, a painting. You can look at the painting and find more details if you study it. It is similair in the minimalist music. You let the music evolve and it opens up worlds inside of you. The productions are often more plain and simple and in my opinion simplicity makes music more interesting. Not always of course. Out of the 4 tracks on your EP, which one is a personal favourite? And why? Hard to point one out, but I must say the title track ”Affection” that is special to me as it came from my soul one day as a musical journal and reflection of my parenthood and how my relationship with my son was and is. But the song ”Disappear” is also very emotional to me. Very inwards. The 2022 studio efforts Born and Shine received critical acclamation. What can we as fans expect from your roster next? Thank you. I have new material for a great third album that will be more classical in the style of neoclassical piano music. Modern piano more intertwined with 19th-century piano music. A really pianistic and expressionistic album I think. Like a piano concerto. Affection and Absence is a record worth your time Liungman's piano melodies are minimalist and uses the sense of space to accentuate every note. The compositional structure may appear to be more 'horizontal' than 'vertical', meaning that every chordal progression and resolution is very carefully crafted. With a runtime of 21 minutes, the EP has 5 distinct tracks that explore a range of emotions and proves to be a testament to the artist's unique skillset as a neo-classical composer. With subtle harmonic nuances and an impeccable minimalist mix, Liungman consolidates his place as one of the most influential pianists of contemporary times. While each tracks carry their own unique flavour to them, the record never fails to lose its introspective sound that puts the pianist at the forefront of the Swedish indie music scene. Liungman may engage in a broad variety of complex, contradictory feelings because to his ingenuity and his EP is a testament to his unique skillset. This record may find itself in dramas with subtle emotional expressions like "The Terminal" or even darker noir films such as "We Need to Talk About Kevin".
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