un Feu Sur L'abîme

Mention French music of the late 17th century, and the adjectives that come to mind are the same ones associated with the Louis XIV: splendid, imposing, ritualistic. The music of the era was exemplified by Lully's tightly controlled dramatic compositions and by massive church compositions. Both types were composed by Michel Lambert (1610-1696), but there was another side to music of the Sun King's era, and Lambert specialized in that. The air de cour, or court air, was intimate, romantic, subtle: everything that the Lully opera was not. And Lully himself composed music for quieter occasions, as well.

Zut un feu rouge was formed in Linköping, Sweden, in 1980 and the five members used their varying musical abilities and mutual broad cultural interests to experiment. Zut challenged their own as well as other people’s perception of what music could, or should, be. In 2010 the band returned to live performances and began song writing for a new LP album, Childwoods. Written and recorded between 2013 and 2019, this record is the band’s fourth, but the first in 34 years with new songs. On the vinyl release the members trace their youth and the mythology of the past. Optimism is mixed with fear, cold war and neighbourhood adventures. While the lyrics are historically and geographically diverse, the music is a pick up sticks game with rock, pop, jazz, folk and art music.