Absynthe Minded announces first studio album with v2 Records
The noise of the world is getting harder to tune out. Climate change, artificial intelligence, polarisation and a relentless churn of information. On Absynthe Minded’s 9th studio album ‘Slightly Included’, announced today, the band let’s the unease of our times seep into the music while holding fast to the things that make life worth living: love, imagination, youth, nature, parenthood, music, everyday beauty and the simple pleasure of being together. Slightly Included will be released March 19th and is Absynthe Minded’s first studio album with V2 Records.
Photo Credit: Grégoire Verbeke
The result is a compelling snapshot of our time, with 12 songs that move through a remarkable range of moods. Absynthe Minded move freely between muscular rock, catchy pop hooks and jazz-inflected grooves, while a 16-piece string ensemble arranged by Alex Callier (Hooverphonic) gives their familiar sound an expansive new dimension. There’s a palpable sense of musicians enjoying each other’s company. In fact, this may be their most instinctive album in years.
The album title comes from the language of diamonds: Very Very Slightly Included refers to tiny imperfections in an otherwise highly valuable stone. Singer and band leader Bert Ostyn uses the idea as a jumping-off point for a broader meditation on what we choose to value, who we allow in, who we leave out, and how comfortable we are with our own imperfections. “And then there are all the triggers the word included brings up for us,” he says, before adding with a laugh: “But this album is for everyone.”
“The challenge of our time is figuring out how much we can let in without losing hope,” Ostyn muses. But if the ugliness of the world doesn’t affect you, can you still let the beauty in? It’s a question that neatly captures the territory Slightly Included occupies. Ostyn has a gift for making sense of the absurdity around us, while never losing sight of the extraordinary beauty that persists alongside it. A rare trick.
“We took plenty of time to let the songs mature, to jam and to build on whatever emerged in the moment. We’re an analogue, old-school band. There’s nothing better than simply listening to each other.” In short: 25 years after their formation, Absynthe Minded are nowhere near finished: “We’re hungry, ambitious and we have a story to tell.”
Asked what, precisely, the album is arguing for, Ostyn turns to Sartre, who believed that it is only through action that a human being truly lives. Ostyn’s own translation is rather simpler: “Get outside, do things, hold each other’s hands, love people.” Noted.
