Širom + AC

𝘍𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘔𝘰𝘯 magazine and 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘻𝘦 in cooperation with Atrium in Žižkov present a fascinating journey into the depths of Slavic folklore, which, however, is not a perfect reproduction of what has been said, but on the contrary brings a completely new context, structure and outlook for the future. The Slovenian trio Shirom resemble a kind of futuristic archaeologists who find new musical paths, self-knowledge and love through the search for their own past. Their album 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 has become one of the most acclaimed releases of last year in the alternative European scene and Širom will present it for the first time in Prague on Wednesday, September 20.

Š𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘮’s music is built on folk foundations, using instruments both archaic and custom-built, and in no time at all they move from cycles of quiet, strangely familiar melodies to somewhere in the post-rock realm that recalls in its intensity the perfect structures of Japan’s Mono or the majestic surfaces of genre classics Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

The trio of Ana Kravanja, Iztok Koren and Samo Kutin came together in the middle of the last decade and have four full-length albums to their credit. The most successful of these, The Liquified Throne of Simplicity, was released last year on the prestigious Glitterbeat label and has appeared on numerous alternative charts for 2022, topping most of them. Highly followed site The Quiteus even placed the album at number one on their biannual chart.

The trio themselves describe their music as “imaginary folk”, which is apt but woefully inadequate. Their concerts resemble strange meditative seances as much as an intense trance experience. Shirom master traditional instruments from all over the world (tempura brac, guembri, daf, ocarina or ninera), but at the same time they don’t hesitate to use plastic tubes or a good-sounding pot in their intricate structures. Ana Kravanja’s ethereal vocals elevate their music to the level of magical ritual. “Our music is about abolishing individualism, about taking a step back and joining forces,” says Iztok Koren about the band’s production. Try to connect too.