Hak & Heytze – Icarus

This production is a collaboration between Dutch poet Ingmar Heytze and musician Lilian Hak. Ingmar Heytze has already gained recognition as a poet in the Netherlands due to the publications of two volumes of poems and his live performances with and without musicians.

Icarus is a selection of his poems written between 1997 and 2001 that are put to music. The music is mainly electronic with some additional guitar on certain tracks. Overall the music is atmospheric and moody, hinting at dark ambient at times. These soundscapes are built around orchestrated and incidental sounds which are fused with occasional beats. The poems are read on top of this in a clear voice, which is treated in a varied ways on different tracks. Poems like ‘Voordat’ and ‘Meisjesgenade’ have at times a dash of eroticism to them, while others display a hint of surrealism, like ‘Rorschach’ and ‘Ime’.

Most of the pieces on the cd are short, with fifteen tracks in less then thirty minutes. But this benefits the pieces while they become better to listen to, and prevents that the listener may loose attention. There is also an animation track of the opening track ‘Icarus’ on the cd with very nice surreal images, which gives the track something extra. This combination with images would work very well in a live situation.

Although this cd will most likely be best appreciated by people who understand the Dutch language, it is recommendable to everyone who is interested in the combination of poetry and music. There are some good compositions to found on this cd, and the words go very well with the sounds. Together they produce some fine and moody moments. This project would be an excellent opening act for a concert by The Legendary Pink Dots…

artist: Hak & Heytze
label: self-released
details: 2001