AWKWARD i - KYD
AWKWARD i - KYD
After five years, musician, composer and songwriter Djurre de Haan finally has a new AWKWARD i-record on the shelf: KYD. De Haan found the abstract word in an article in Vrij Nederland about communities that live self-sufficiently. The story was about a mother who had the idea to let her son, as soon as he was old enough, give himself a name. When she finally asked him, 'what do you want to be called?', he simply answered: 'kid'. Because up until that moment, people just called him that. The spelling only changed: KYD.
KYD
De Haan knew it right away: that's what the next AWKWARD i record will be called. KYD is an abstract word that sounds universal at the same time. It has something random and playful, but you still link it to a specific meaning. Until now, De Haan has always made records as AWKWARD i that, thematically and textually, go into the finest details. KYD partly surrenders to the incidental and banal. Some things you can't control down to the last detail. Some things just happen.
Five years ago, De Haan had gotten a good grip on his musical career. In addition to two albums as AWKWARD i, he has emerged in recent years as a much sought-after composer for film and theater. De Haan naturally developed into a versatile artist in multiple disciplines, with two Golden Calf nominations as notable achievements. Long story short: the future looked productive.
Then De Haan got a phone call: he had become a father – against his own knowledge. He couldn’t plan for something like that at the time. Having a daughter changed priorities drastically. Just when De Haan had gotten used to parenthood, his mother had a massive stroke, narrowly escaping death. KYD captures – in typical dryly comical AWKWARD i-manner – the turbulence in De Haan’s life. The record symbolizes his forced crash course in adulthood and the preservation of his childish impulsiveness. Even besides the success he achieved as an all-round musician, De Haan often lay awake wondering: would there still be a good AWKWARD i-record in him? Is the “song plant” definitely dead?
Not by a long shot. Even at times when De Haan takes the listener to the depths, KYD disarms with his unmistakable humor and imagination. On Silent Disco he finds himself in the least desirable place during a depression: among the exuberant silent disco goers. Happiest Man (at your funeral) ponders the idea that – statistically speaking – someone always has to be the happiest person at a funeral. Haul Away combines the drone of an Indian Surbahar with a touch of Nirvana. On A Boat Beneath A Sunny Sky De Haan largely quotes a poem by Lewis Carroll. He came up with the idea while working on a theater performance of Carroll's famous book Alice In Wonderland.
Milkshakes Funnelcakes
The first single from KYD starts in a downward spiral, bravely climbs out of the deep valley and then flies into the heavens with unabashed fighting spirit. De Haan fortunately leaves the listener with a sweet aftertaste by means of a comic pun (“Sugar Honey Iced Tea”). The self-mockery indicates that all stumbling blocks and obstacles have now been overcome. Milkshakes Funnelcakes is, like KYD in general, a tragicomic reconstruction of five turbulent years. De Haan does not shy away from revealing his confusion, melancholy and dark sentiments at the time. However, wallowing in these feelings is not an option with AWKWARD i. The clip of Milkshakes Funnelcakes – with a starring role for New York street artist Matthew Silver – beautifully captures the absurd beauty of the song. De Haan previously worked with the director, Michiel ten Horn, on his films Aanmodderfakker and De Ontmaagding van Eva van End.
About AWKWARD i
AWKWARD i is the more song-oriented pseudonym of composer and songwriter Djurre de Haan. De Haan has three albums on his resume as AWKWARD i: debut I Really Should Whisper is a beautiful lo-fi listening album with many exciting layers. Successor Everything On Wheels is more spontaneously played but for the first time shows off a full band sound. On his upcoming LP KYD, De Haan applies a combination of the two methods: a musical marriage between the sonorous pop arrangement and the playful sound experiment. His subtle lyrics whimsically pave a path between self-mockery, absurdity and melancholy.