Echoes of Zoo Albumrelease

Timing

• 19.45u.: de living is open
• 20.30u.: start optreden

Sufism, Balkan music and Rage Against the Machine blend with sounds from the animal kingdom. This is just a small selection from the vast treasure trove of inspiration for Nathan Daems’ psych-jazz group Echoes of Zoo.

This autumn, Echoes of Zoo will be releasing new work. Their third album, *Collective Intelligence*, once again draws on the world of flora and fauna, this time with collectivity and formality as its central themes. The group looks to the coordination of animals – think of swarms and ecosystems – and, through their songs, celebrates the joy that arises when individuals move as a single entity. This celebration of collectivity thus takes on a political edge: an invitation for us, as humans, to tackle global challenges together, and a call for connection and shared responsibility.

All set to West African rhythms, underpinned by Middle Eastern melodies, with touches of psychedelia, jazz and dub here and there. In short: Echoes of Zoo’s third album is a danceable call to come together. Have a listen to the first single, ‘Flock Logic’, here.

Flock Logic came about following the Echoes of Zoo concerts in Brazil in January 2024, when they returned home brimming with inspiration: “We’d seen flocks of birds swirling through the air and wondered how they managed to navigate as a single unit. The madness of the carnival helped us develop a number of ideas for grooves and melodies into a hypnotic frenzy, which ultimately became this energetic track.”

Nathan Daems founded Echoes of Zoo in 2018, together with members of Black Flower, Compro Oro and De Beren Gieren. Since then, they have released one EP and two albums. The albums BREAKOUT (2021) and Speeches of Species (2023) both draw inspiration from the animal kingdom. Nathan became fascinated by the differences between humans and animals, but also by the similarities. For instance, songbirds appear to sing not only to communicate, but possibly also for pleasure. The idea of music as a means of communication in the animal kingdom formed the inspiration for *Speeches of Species*.

Photo © Alexander Deprez