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Sven Wunder Summons The Sublime On ‘Daybreak’. Swedish composer traces a 24-hour arc on strings-kissed fifth album.

Each album by Swedish composer Sven Wunder masterfully opens a door into a different sonic mise-en-scene, from the East-meets-West psychedelia of Eastern Flowers, to the painterly restraint of Wabi Sabi or the midnight-jazz hush of Late Again. Daybreak could be his most radiant yet: a slow-blooming, analog-toned instrumental voyage that charts the emotional arc of a single day from pre-dawn shimmer to golden hour contemplation. Throughout, recurring musical themes appear in multiple instrumental, rhythmic and textural guises, almost like sunlight refracted through the waters of Lake Vänern.

As ever, Wunder draws from a global palette of woodwinds, strings, hand drums, fingerpicked acoustic guitar and brass, and arranges them with both a crate-digger’s ear and a maestro’s precision. But Daybreak is funkier and more sensual than past efforts, with excitable, David Axelrod-style bass lines, wah-wah guitar and syncopated drums adding muscle to the elegance. That this music comes from Joel Danell — a shy aesthete who rarely performs on his own records and could easily pass for a university lecturer — only adds to its mystique. He’s the best kind of behind-the-scenes architect, constructing ornate, emotionally resonant soundscapes with the remove of someone blissfully unconcerned with the spotlight.

One of Daybreak’s signatures is its recycling of melody. A single theme, introduced via flute on opener “Setting Off,” reappears again and again throughout, reshaped each time. Sometimes it’s handed to strings or translated into mallet percussion or electric piano; others, it floats atop a groove or dissolves into a gorgeous countermelody (“Scenic Byway”). Rather than feeling repetitive, this technique binds the music together, like the subtle shifts of light across a familiar landscape. It’s a nifty trick that evokes vintage library and film score music in its eschewing of verse-chorus structure in favor of tonal cohesion.

The arrangements here are always lush but never cluttered. Flutes and horns carve sinuous paths over twinkling vibraphone and brushed drums on the title cut and “Still Moorings,” while the grooves tighten and the low end kicks in on “Warmer Air” and “Turning Tides,” with rock organ and reverb-kissed keys punctuating the fading light.

As it nears its conclusion, Daybreak shifts again. “Deep Sea” introduces a disorienting, unresolved melody and fried vibe runs, its tempo dragging like a dream gone off-axis. Closer “Liquid Mountains” lets loose in a different way, layering DJ Shadow-style breakbeats and dramatic strings into a climax that’s both jubilant and bittersweet. It’s the peppiest moment on the album — and then, like yellow-orange rays slipping behind the silver birches, it’s gone. — (via Spin)
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At daybreak, as sunlight travels through the atmosphere and begins to reach Earth’s surface, daylight gradually emerges. This marks the transition from night to the beginning of a brand-new day. As the temperature rises—especially after clear, calm nights—relative humidity decreases, and mist, formed of tiny suspended droplets, begins to evaporate. Warm air rises and cool air sinks, creating an interplay of temperature, humidity and sunlight that gives way to a soft, diffuse glow. The sea breeze slowly clears the morning mist, setting life in motion once again as the world wakes up.

‘Daybreak’ is Sven Wunder’s fifth full-length album, seamlessly continuing the progression of his musical oeuvre. It takes the listener on a vivid maritime expedition, beginning the moment the first rays of light break the darkness of the night and embarking on a lush journey through the early hours of the day and far beyond, until the light slowly fades and night falls once again. True to Wunder’s now-distinctive artistry, ‘Daybreak’ is marked by elaborately crafted compositions and elegant pop-jazz arrangements for flute, percussion, brass and strings—supported by a decisive rhythm section, all of which add depth and build on his body of work, continuing to unfold his creative path. — (via Label)

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Label: Piano Piano 
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Released: 2025
Genre: Jazz, Funk / Soul
Style: Jazz-Funk, Modern/Future Jazz

File under: Jazz // Modern/Future Jazz
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