Simiskina is the Oslo-based free improvising duo of Belgian-Norwegian pianist Jonas Cambien and Norwegian bassist Adrian Myhr. The duo’s titles refer to a species of butterflies (Lycaenidae), found in the Indomalayan realm, as butterflies are often associated with transformation, metamorphosis, and freedom. These concepts reflect Simiskina’s practice: an expression in constant change, driven by improvisation and exploration.

The duo released its self-titled acoustic debut album in 2017 (Clean Feed), where Cambien played the piano, and Myhr played the double bass. This album showcased the elegance and complex delicacy of contemporary classical music, as well as the drive and energy of jazz-rooted improvisation.

Simiskina’s second album, Endless Green Hills, tells a completely different story, intensifying the duo’s ethos of sonic transformation and metamorphosis, but still rooted in the free improv aesthetics. Cambien plays on synth, turntables, and effects, while Myhr switches to electric bass and effects. The duo plays with fragmented textures, rhythms, and sounds that it began exploring immediately after releasing its debut album. The album was recorded at Flerbruket and incorporated samples from the self-titled album. The cover artwork consists of scanned still images from Xavier Quérel’s experimental films.

The new album sketches dense, restless, yet quite mysterious and cinematic, electronic urban landscapes that echo a distant, more relaxed, more human past, with quotes from Simiskina’s debut album. The dynamics are still free, reflecting the duo’s resourceful vocabularies. Cambien’s turntable introduces an unpredictable essence to the interplay, while Myhr’s effects-laden electric bass twists and stretches the rhythmic structures of the nine pieces.

Eyal Hareuveni

Jonas Cambien (synthesizer, turntables, effects), Adrian Myhr (electric bass, effects)