Televizyon is a genre-bending quartet initiated by Turkish, Amsterdam-based vocalist and electronics player Sanem Kalfa, inspired by the infectious, simple, and easily recognizable and hummable melodies and fragments from Turkish television commercials from the 80s.

The quartet features Amsterdam-based, Polish keyboard player Marta Warelis (who also plays in a duo with Kalfa) and Korean drummer Sun-Mi Hong (who, with Warelis, played on Kalfa’s album Miraculous Layers, Bimhuis, 2023), with Norwegian double bass hero Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (who released Kalfa’s recent solo album, If a tree falls in the forrest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?, on his label, Sonic Transmission, 2025).

Televizyon takes the 80s synth pop and twists it into an updated, steamy stew of free jazz, art and indie rock, electronic music, and noise, with generous room for improvisation, and a powerful, uplifting sound. It touches the sound of bands like Deerhoof or the Norwegian post-punk band Pom Poko, and also Turkish alternative acts such as singer-songwriter Gaye Su Akyol or the psychedelic band Lalalar. Kalfa designed Televizyon’s logo and produced the album with producer Alessandro Mazzieri.

Televizyon offers a timeless journey into an innocent, joyful past, with healthy doses of humor, irony, and passion, and with eight compact songs – sung in Turkish and English, that would make you move your limbs and dance involuntarily. The music is fresh, clever, cheeky, and outrageous, but totally irresistible. It lasts only very short 28 minutes. And if you haven’t explored yet, other projects of the ever-resourceful and imaginative Kalfa, Warelis, and Sun-Mi Hong, Mom! I’m Growing Up is a good place to start.

Eyal Hareuveni

Sanem Kalfa (voice, electronics), Marta Warelis (electric organ, synthesizer, sampler), Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (double bass), Sun-Mi Hong (drums)