Alex Deforce & Charlotte Jacobs

'Kwart Voor Straks' is the debut release from Deforce and Jacobs, two artists with differing aesthetics who share similar creative philosophies. Deforce is a painter, poet and curator who's based in Brussels, and Jacobs a vocalist and songwriter whose last solo release, 2021's 'The Shape of Wandering' treated her voice to various processes over a synthy, jazz-inspired backdrop. 'Kwart Voor Straks' (quarter to later) fixates on the voice, weaving the duo's sung and spoken words between loose song fragments that appear suddenly and disappear like vapours. 'Umami' is the album’s most upfront track, a hypnagogic club crawler that balances Jacobs' and Deforce's spoken words with rumbling kicks and stark, electrified percussion. "Overspoeld, door kleur in het, kwadraat, ziet de straat, kracht, in pastel," they mouth purposefully, while Jacobs provides an elysian, choral accompaniment.

Needless to say, Stroom's well unbalanced love of both weirdo and pop sensibilities very much chimes with our own, so, if you like it that way, this one’s up with the best of them.