Songs For Sundays Parlours - the 4 song ep (2005)

Songs for Sunday Parlours is the project of Malte Jantzen and Saskia Melina Waldeck, a duo, sometimes a trio, from Nordhessen, Germany. The started in 2005, and at the end of this year they released this first demo ep of acoustic lo-fi folk songs.

Checking the blog of Malte, you learn that he is, among others, fan of Audrey, Norfolk & Western, Leonard Cohen, Bright Eyes, Anois or Hush Records in general. Combining these names, you’ve got the idea of how his songwriting could be oriented; I would just add as my best approximate definition, something from the preciousness of Jen Wood or Snailhouse - and maybe Ida too -, to get a blurry circumference of the Songs for Sunday Parlours universe, as they share have something in common, this indefinable that can make you shiver with repeated listens.

This ep features four very quiet delicate melancholic folk songs, with whispered and intimate vocals from Malte and second voices from Saskia. The acoustic guitar is always at the center of the songs, with sometimes sparse percussions or a shy piano.

Listening to Songs for Sunday Parlours, I have images of winter landscapes, during these last days where the thaw starts to wake up rivulets, when a few birds sings anew, enthusiastically in the morning. Malte Jantzen creates subtle and sensitive songs, with warm and almost feverish nuances, acidulous colors and perfumes, comforting like a big cup of tea one Sunday morning spent alone, waiting contemplatively for the sun to pierce the clouds.

A great and impressive debut, heartily recommended, it will embellish your reflective days.