Dutch electronic music duo Polynation returns to Atomnation with Bloom, a new EP featuring guest appearances from Itai Weissman and Eric Vloeimans.

Polynation has always employed a wide range of gear to make their music, from synths, bass, guitar, and pedals to their unmistakable use of acoustic drums. This time, they have guest musicians Eric Vloeimans on trumpet and Itai Weissman playing saxophone and EWI — a digital wind instrument. The EP is their investigation into the symbiosis between electronically generated sounds and acoustic wind instruments. It finds them playing wind instruments in unconventional ways to mimic the language of a synthesizer and contrasting them with electronic sounds that breathe and feel alive, as if acoustic. “We are particularly interested in the sonic world where the boundaries between electronic and acoustic sounds begin to blur,” they explain. They now take that concept one step further on this latest outing.

“The interesting thing about the EWI is that it plays like a traditional wind instrument but is able to control synthesizers and even samples. You get a very organic and fluid tone because of the volume and pitch control, which you couldn’t get any other way. Sometimes we forgot that a recording was actually coming from a synth played through an EWI instead of being played by either trumpet or sax,” they add.

Opener “Hyfen” is majestic techno-jazz, an inviting blend of liquid synths and drawn-out chords with melancholic trumpets drifting on top. All sorts of watery droplets, organic hits, and melodic flourishes add rich detail and lasting emotion to the free-flowing sounds. The beautiful and beatless “Bloom” is more suspensory, as somber, drawn-out trumpet notes linger with a heavy heart over sustained chords that encourage deep inward reflection. “Ritueel” is a rousing symphony of hopeful chords and lush drumming, full of bristling, joyful energy. Twinkling keys rain down next to the subtle, enriching sounds of the trumpet in this most mellifluous of tracks. “Fade” is a quietly dramatic closer. The chords are heavy, and the unmistakable tender trumpet playing by Eric Vloeimans speaks to the soul as things build to a crescendo before fading away and leaving you in a world of contemplation.

Stijn Hosman and Hessel Stuut have been regulars on this label for almost a decade, crafting meticulous sounds rich in melody and texture. Last spring, they released Wald, which captured the beauty of nature and the joy of isolation. That came after three previous EPs and an album, Igneous, which has picked up more than 20 million Spotify streams. The pair are renowned for fusing pop, ambient, synth, and minimalist charms in their dynamic live shows, performing everywhere from Best Kept Secret and Wildeburg to Secret Garden Festival, ADE, and DGTL.

Bloom is another deep dive into the adventurous sonic alchemy of the continually innovative Polynation.

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