Hind by Sebastian Mullaert & Henrik Frendin

Sometimes in life things fall into a perfect circle. One such example is the project ‘HIND’ by acclaimed Swedish Grammy nominated musicians Sebastian Mullaert and Henrik Frendin, constituting the pinnacle of over 40 years of combined research and creative explorations in the space of contemporary electro-acoustic music.

The first encounter between the two was back in 2006 at the Malmö Academy of Music. Following an illustrious career in the electronic dance music scene, Sebastian received support from tastemakers like Mixmag, FACT, Electronic Beats and Crack and nominated twice for Swedish Grammy both for his solo work and under his Minilogue project. He was voted in the “Top Live Acts In The World" by Resident Advisor, for his awe inspiring performances touching all corners of the globe form Boiler Room, through Berghain and Fabric. Mullaert became interested in returning to his roots as a classically trained musician, seeking novel ways of integrating classical and electronic music, culminating in his stunning “Natthall” LP with Zurich Philharmonic Orchestra which featured in the BBC Music Magazine “Top 10 Post Classical Albums” of 2020.

Meanwhile, Frendin was touring internationally promoting his solo album ‘Viola con Forza’ (2004), nominated for a Swedish Grammy in the category ‘Classical solo’, at that time already considered one of Scandinavia´s leading violists.
This album was a compilation of works by leading Swedish composers, all pieces dedicated to Frendin. To meet his vision of expanding and developing the sound palette of an electro-acoustical string instrument, a new amplified string instrument called Electric Viola Grande, built, and created by Richard Rolf, was constructed especially for him. This unique five-string viola set a new standard of authentic sound and design in the field of electro-acoustical instrument making. Frendin´s first appearance on stage with the new instrument was at a performance in Wiener Concerthaus as a feathured solo artist at “Lange Nacht der Neue Klänge”.
Naturally, this sparked Mullaert’s interest, so he enrolled for private lessons with the viola professor Frendin.

Fast forward to 2024 and the pair reunited for the resulting ‘HIND’ project, with the main inspiration and starting point nature, and it was an up-close experience with a baby wild deer and its protective mother while they were both meditating in the woods from which the album takes its name. “Almost getting showered by the beauty of nature – it was quite a magical moment that has never happened to me before or anyone else I know for that matter,” adds Mullaert.

Across ‘HIND’, both Mullaert and Frendin’s creative practises and different musical backgrounds are taken to a new level of technical and artistic achievement. Album opener ‘Dawn’ peacefully unfolds – the sun comes up, the darkness clears – while the sprightly ‘Stepping Stone’ and album title track ‘Hind’ elegantly use melody, rhythm, and harmony; a result of a series of long takes in which Frendin’s playing is processed, looped, and warped in real time by Mullaert, with Frendin adding real-time string layers through improvisation and Mullaert performing multilayer looping.

Elsewhere, the celestial ‘Starling Solitude’ and breezy ‘Stardance’ flow and breath freely like nature itself creating an atmospheric treat. There is a sonic dialogue between the two artists that blurs boundaries between acoustic and electronic music and that has at its core experimentation and freedom. “I woke up one morning getting this vision about the curiosity of how our different worlds of sound would match together and to create some kind of synchronicity,” adds Frendin.

The gentle ripples of ‘The Fogs’ and the deeply ethereal soundscapes of ‘Another Form of Wings’ reveal two artists with a deep connection to sound and to one another, while the introspective ‘Embrace’ has a beautifully haunting ambience that slowly emerges.

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