By ELI JACE >
Time stands still. The only wind is the force putting the hair on your body at attention. Guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Cuylan put out the video last week as the second single for his beautiful new album, No Such Thing As Free Will.
The black and white visual was directed by Idil Ergün and moves with the same static ease as the song. Ergün uses a cut-out technique to contrast and collide shapes as they travel through a geometric web of mirrors. The idea is stunning in its creativity and hypnotizing by its execution. Cuylan strums the strings like the final waves off a tidal. His playing is waterlike, serene and rhythmic.
Cuylan grew up in Istanbul, Turkey and knew early on musical composition would be the investigation of his lifetime.
He went to a French high school in Istanbul where he learned to play his first instrument, the classical guitar. Since then he's been a master collaborator, traveling throughout the world with numerous musical outfits. There is the post-jazz trio, Maya, the electronic duo, Portecho, and the world music collective, Norrda. Overall, he's released 10 albums across these projects.
In 2015, Cuylan left Turkey for Los Angeles as his career shifted towards film scoring. He's worked with Netflix on a number of scores, including the great El Chapo; and in 2018 he co-wrote and scored his first feature film, Av: The Hunt. The movie, acquired by Netflix International, will be one of the streaming giant's first Turkish features.
The seeds for No Such Thing were first planted when Cuylan visited a guitar in a shop in Santa Monica, California.
He discovered a Santos model classical guitar, hesitated over price, lost sleep over it, but inevitably returned to make the purchase. Cuylan found deep inspiration in learning the instrument's nuances. He overindulged in its form, eventually writing the compositions for No Such Thing As Free Will. The album is mostly centered on Cuylan's guitar, but there are also hints of clarinet, piano, and performed by his partner Brian Bender, the cello. It's a masterpiece in refinement.
No Such Thing As Free Will is being put out by Hush Hush Records out of Seattle and will be available March 19, digitally and physically.
Posted in Tagged Best New Music, acoustic, acoustic artist, bandcamp, creative videos, Deniz Cuylan, Hush Hush Records, Idil Ergün, Istanbul, music video, No Such Thing As Free Will, seattle, Turkey Featured Music, multimedia, Music, Music Reviews
