GLUT by District Five

District Five are a band — and have been for more than ten years now. That may sound simple, but it’s anything but trivial. In our hyper-optimized present, a band can seem like a utopia — especially when its members lift one another into ever-new, uncharted musical territories, together and without hierarchy. Paul Amereller, Tapiwa Svosve, Vojko Huter, and Xaver Rüegg do exactly that — moving freely through the spaces between pop, jazz, and rock, and shifting constantly between improvisational openness and song-based structure. These four multi-instrumentalists avoid anything too clear-cut — something reflected even in the title of their fourth album, Glut. Depending on the language, Glut can mean excess, but also warmth — the kind that offers hope amid the catastrophes of the present. All these meanings resonate in the songs of Glut: we hear the warmth and affection in the interplay of the opening track “Seed”; we hear the flood of impressions from a late-capitalist world in flames, colliding in furious songs like “Company Man” and its tender counterpart “Strict Circumstances”; we hear the crackling glow in what was once an instrumental jam track, “Push” — transformed, through a feature from the great spoken-word artist Saul Williams, into a manifesto against resignation and escapism. Like its predecessor Come Closer, Glut is released on the label Stone Pixels, with whom District Five share an independent work ethic and a curious, exploratory approach to music. Because Glut is not a “product” — not just another piece of “content” for quick consumption. It’s an album crafted with care and intricate arrangements. And it came into being without detours: after years of making music together, District Five have become a first-take band. Recorded and produced by the group themselves in Vojko Huter’s own studio, Glut captures the immediacy of their live sound — with minimal cuts and overdubs. Once again, on Glut, District Five move through vast musical spaces, staying open yet never vague — thanks to a music that continues to glow long after it ends.

District Five has been meeting in the rehearsal room for over ten years, reflecting themselves, their friendship, their influences and experiences in their music. The result is a work that keeps on moving. Sometimes closer to jazz, sometimes pop, sometimes further away from it, but always close to itself. Hyper-energetic freefall music injected directly into your brain through your ear canals.

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