Asphalt Fairies - Black Shiny Chrome

An asphalt fairy is, besides a puzzle synonym for a street prostitute, an inconspicuous flower that is able to grow through asphalt. The band was formed in 2009 from the collaboration between multi-instrumentalist Cor van Ingen and poets Ellen Deckwitz and Ingmar Heytze. The name was well chosen: the fairies occasionally raised their heads when there was a reason to do so in the form of a performance, and then disappeared again for an indefinite period of time. Ellen Deckwitz moved to Amsterdam and was promoted to regular honorary member, the permanent line-up was expanded with Johan Borger on guitar and lap steel and Julius Le Paon on vibraphone.

In the darkest days of December 2018, the four men dived into Studio Moskou out of the need to capture what was there. Zwart Glimmend Chroom is both the album debut of Asfaltfeeë n and the musical testament of Le Paon, who passed away in September 2019. As an album, it is one of the most successful examples of a Dutch crossover between poetry and music: the combination of Fender VI bass, lap steel and vibraphone provide a unique and beautiful sound carpet under Heytze's voice, the poetry merges with the music into an instrument. For lovers of An American Prayer of The Doors, the atmospheric film soundtracks of Ry Cooder and the unbridled lyrical, musical experimentation. 

Black Shiny Chrome covers nine tracks, no more than 27 minutes. It is a small work of love and loss, to listen to on repeat at night, with a view of the stars. Or to dance carefully, ever closer together, out of the crisis.