Yngel
is the creative partnership of Danish guitarists / composers Taus Bregnhøj-Olesen and Emil Palme. Both have a background in experimental music. Taus builds his own string instruments and effects pedals, and has performed live with innovative American drummer, Randy Pedersen. In 2023, he released a solo LP on ambient / drone label First Terrace Records. Emil has shared a stage with kosmiche pioneer Manuel Göttsching, and been part of Scottish singer/songwriter Clarissa Connelly’s touring band.

The two met while studying in Copenhagen, and were brought together by a shared desire to break free of the traditional vocabulary of the guitar. This led them to develop unique techniques, such as playing their instruments with rocks and stones. The use of such elemental objects in their process introduces an unpredictability, and also reflects the inspiration they draw from nature. To date the pair have produced 6 albums, some self-released, some in conjunction with local labels such as Insula, One Take Records, and Resonans Recordings. The latter record was a collaboration with Indonesian Tarawangsa player, Teguh Permana, who they met while touring South East Asia. This trip also resulted in Taus and Emil working with Rully Shabara and Wukir Suryadi of Senyawa. Yngel’s 2015 debut was described in the press as “post-everything”, and the friends think that this still applies to their music now.

Yngel’s new album, Silva, is signed to FatCat Records, and a collaboration with a string quartet, which features members of label mates, Halvcirkel. The compositions were written in a series of “non-studio” surroundings around Denmark, including gardens, country houses, an abandoned water tower. The collective then captured the set in Copenhagen’s Brorsons Church. The title, Silva, is Latin for “forest” or “woodland” and is not only a nod to Mother Nature, but also how Yngel see their creations existing as individual organisms that harmonise as a bigger whole. Such synergy is also true of the playing, as the 6 musicians sensitively and skilfully improvise around one another to the point where the voices of individual instruments are often hard to discern.