As most of the readers of Headphone Commute are musicians in their own right, they should already be familiar with the Berlin-based Martyn Heyne, who should be known to them as the owner of Lichte Studio, in which so many experimental, ambient, and modern classical albums have been recorded, mixed, mastered, and produced. These include some of the releases by Aukai, Tambour, Kelly James Wyse, Ceeys, Shida Shahabi, Tom Adams, Luke Howard, and Hecq, among the many others. But, of course, since I'm running this track premiere today, Heyne is also an outstanding composer, first appearing on my radar (and indeed these pages) with his 2017 release, Electric Intervals on 7k!. What may be surprising among all of this is that Heyne is also a fantastic guitar player, showcasing his favorite instrument on the upcoming solo album, titled Open Lines. Well, actually, he plays more than one instrument on the album. Among his performance on the electric, acoustic, 12-string, and classical guitar, Rhodes, bass, and piano, there's also the kalimba, bongos, and bells! Not to mention the appearance of the wonderful Anne Mülle on the cello on a couple of tracks, and the Finnish percussionist, Tatu Rönkkö on the drums, with whom Heyne has played live as Efterklang. The album traverses the boundaries of contemporary classical, krautrock, slow-shuffling jazz, and everything in between. The heart of the release, touching upon all of the above-mentioned aesthetics, and my favorite piece as well, is a track titled "Neuwerk." And that is precisely why I am happy to share it with you today.

Open Lines

TRACK PREMIERE : Martyn Heyne - Neuwerk

some original solo piano pieces...  some mixes from my podcast... some exclusive track premieres...  and some tracks from the albums I review for Headphone Commute... Enjoy!