Fievel Is Glauque Rong Weicknes on LP

Fievel Is Glauque is an international collaboration between New York-based keyboardist and bandleader Zach Phillips and Brussels-based singer and performer Ma Clément. The Rong Weicknes band is an octet lineup of musicians from the US, Belgium and Canada, featuring: Thom Gill (guitar), Logan Kane (bass), Daniel Rossi (percussion), André Sacalxot (saxophone, flute), Gaspard Sicx (drums), and Chris Weisman (guitar, electric sitar).

Finding themselves in the novel position of having, for the first time, more than a single day to record an album and a label to record it for, Zach and Ma put together a band and brought them to live and record at The Outlier Inn, a farm and music studio in upstate New York, from July 27 to August 2, 2023. With time in the studio to experiment, Fievel Is Glauque finally had the resources to try an old idea Phillips had never brought to fruition: a recording approach he calls “live in triplicate.” First laying down a foundational take, then a duplicate take on top of it, and finally an improvisatory, antagonistic take, the octet exclusively played live together without using a click track, so that each layer of performance features tiny rhythmic variations and imperfections, both intentional and not.

Rong Weicknes is the result of a band using their hard-won resources to take a major risk and try something new. It’s obtuse, maximalist, imperfect, and, above all, refreshing.