Garip by Altin Gün

Altın Gün, the Grammy-nominated Turkish psych-groove quintet from Amsterdam, return with their sixth studio album Garip — their most ambitious and diverse release to date, and a heartfelt tribute to the legendary Turkish folk bard Neşet Ertaş.

Neşet Ertaş (1938–2012) was a beloved icon of Anatolian music; a gifted singer, lyricist, and bağlama virtuoso who carried the spirit of the ashik folk tradition into the modern era. Garip ("Strange" in English) features ten of his compositions, each reimagined and richly expanded through Altın Gün’s distinctive lens.

An electrifying live band with an ever-growing global following, Altın Gün push their sonic boundaries even further on Garip — weaving in lush Arabesque string arrangements, bursts of saxophone, glimmering synth balladry, and a fresh surge of tightly wound rock ’n’ roll.

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Since bursting onto the scene in 2018 with their debut album, On, Amsterdam-based Altın Gün have been at the vanguard of the 21st century revival of Turkish-influenced psychedelic grooves.

Coming straight out of the gate with a wah-wah and organ heavy sound that effortlessly captured the spirit of Anatolian 70s psych-funk masters like Bariş Manço and Erkin Koray, they deepened and expanded their palette with 2021’s Yol, which brought synths and drum machines into the mix for a more 80s-influenced dream-pop vibe.

But no matter how far out they’ve gone, they’ve always maintained a strong link to the same Anatolian folk traditions that inspired those early pioneers. Founder and bassist, Jasper Verhulst says: “We’re doing the same thing a lot of those artists were doing, which is playing Turkish traditionals and songs written by folk artists.”

Now, with their sixth album, Garip, they’ve brought that connection to the folk source front and centre, showcasing a collection of songs all originally written by Turkish folk legend Neşet Ertaş.

Ertaş (1938-2012) was a revered and much-loved Turkish singer, lyricist and bağlama player, and a modern-day embodiment of the ancient ashik tradition of the folk-bard-troubadour. Throughout his long career, he recorded more than 30 albums and wrote hundreds of songs – some of which were famously recorded by the likes of Bariş Manço and Selda Bağcan.

For Altın Gün's vocalist, keyboardist and bağlama player, Erdinç Eçevit, interpreting a suite of Ertaş’s tunes is a chance to get back to his roots.

“Both of my parents are from Turkey, from the same area he is from,” he says. “It's the music that I grew up with. When I was five, six years old, my grandfather always had cassettes by Neşet Ertaş and I used to listen to it all day long. Then I was too young to really understand the lyrics and the meaning, but I really liked the melodies.

Now, years later, Eçevit has fully immersed himself in Ertaş’s lyrics – messages from the heart that are, he says, “stories about what he’s facing in life. The Turkish traditional music is the blues of the Turkish people.”

Nowhere is this better exemplified than on ‘Gönul Daği,’ one of Ertaş’s most famous compositions, here brought to life by Eçevit’s yearning, sensitive vocals.

“‘Gönul Daği’ is about the pain of love, the storms of the heart and the loneliness of longing,” says Eçevit. “He’s expressing what rural Anatolia has always felt – that love is both sacred and sorrowful, a force of nature.”

In Altın Gün's hands, the tune becomes a languid funk-rock crawl with watery guitar, a loping bassline and a palpable hint of mystery deepened by luxuriant string arrangements provided by the Stockholm Studio Orchestra.

The strings feature on several tracks, touching on influences including Egyptian popular music, Bollywood soundtracks and Turkish Arabesque. But, as Verhulst explains, there’s another touchstone underpinning the sound. “There’s definitely a French Italian influence in those arrangements,” he says.

It's a prime example of Altın Gün's urge to cast their net wide and incorporate a far-reaching set of magpie musical directions.

Album opener, ‘Neredesin Sen,’ is a throbbing, bass led vamp with a strong early-80s Indie flavour that showcases the fluid chemistry between drummer Daniel Smienk and percussionist Chris Bruining. The closing track, ‘Bir Nazar Eyeldim,’ is a breathtaking ballad with Eçevit’s pleading vocals playing out over lush synth arpeggios and a sparse electronic rhythm. Along the way, the band also touches on proggy vibes, with Eçevit getting down and dirty on the synth’s pitch-bend, and a laid-back west coast ambiance. Check out Thijs Elzinga’s gorgeous slide guitar on the smouldering ‘Gel Kaçma Gel’ to dig just how relaxed they can sound.

Fans of Altın Gün's past work will find much to love too.

The Anatolian element is still strong – and not just in Eçevit’s aching vocals. Eçevit’s tight bağlama figures are woven throughout, making a direct link back to those earliest influences on tracks like the smoky ‘Niğde Bağlari,’ with its off-kilter folk rhythm and cavernous sense of the Anatolian steppes stretching out for miles.

“It’s our most eclectic album,” says Verhulst. “There’s a little bit of everything. The songs are harder to label. We wanted to do something different than what we’ve done before. Less in your face, less poppy, less obviously psych-rock. More just vibing.”

Garip is the sound of a band that’s constantly evolving. A mature musical unit with nothing to prove. A band that’s having a whole lot of fun.