Luwten Two New Tracks

About the releases, Douwstra shares, "Having made so much music on my laptop the past few years, I had a lot of fun translating a song back to where music used to start for me. On top of that, I've never released a version of a song (Call Me In) before the actual recording, but having played this song as an encore so many times, it felt like a logical thing to do. 'Call Me In' is about taking responsibility for your actions and how it can be challenging to start. 'Full Well' is about the scream for an answer. Both of them are boiled down to their core in these versions."

Luwten takes its name from a Dutch word which simply means 'place without wind'. Amsterdam-based Tessa Douwstra adopted it as the moniker for her solo abstract pop project - which fuses organic instrumentation with field recordings and sampling - so enamoured was she with the creative process of "working in a total vacuum". Her EP of late 2020 Door bore the unambiguous title that reflected, in Tessa's own words; "A study of a perfectionist who acknowledges that everything's in a constant state of flux."

In turn, Douwstra's new material for 2021 marks a determined move towards opening up a little, allowing a little fresh air, some outside influence, to rush in underneath the door left ajar. Speaking about the ideas of agency, control and freedom - increasingly applicable to the global crises of 2020/2021 - which have preoccupied her recent creative processes, Tessa notes; "How much of being alone is because it's helpful? How much of being alone is because you're afraid? Does being alone help being authentic? Or is looking for authenticity something you could or even should look for with others? I noticed I'm writing a lot about thinking versus feeling and being alone versus being together with other people. I love the idea of music as self-exploration. For the maker as well as the listener."

The latter idea bears out in the uncompromising honesty of "Full Well", which scrutinises just how far we truly hold ourselves to account for our behaviours. How many times do we instead choose to dismiss regrettable mistakes, to simply, as Douwstra phrases it; "Throw it on a pile and leave it there, set it on fire and go somewhere?" By contrast, the quietly propulsive "Full Well" animates the covert goosebumps of the nascent stages of a new relationship. Speaking about the track - inspired by the minimal music Tessa grew up fascinated with (a collection where Steve Reich, Olafur Eliasson, Teebs and Radiohead were as instructive as the resonant voices of Frank Ocean, D'Angelo, Feist and Solange) - Tessa observes; "It's about being in love with someone and assuming the other person is in love with you too but nobody's spilling the beans. Such an exciting experience. You want it to last forever because not being sure means not being turned down as well. I wanted the song to have the same vibe: a long ramp up that just keeps on building and building until your impatience gets the best of you."