The musical/filmmaking duo of Jozef Van Wissem and Jim Jarmusch is back with the new single “The Two Paths” from their upcoming collaborative LP “An Attempt to Draw Aside the Veil.”
Van Wissem and Jarmusch have been friends for years, and their collaboration history has proven it. Jarmusch, a renowned filmmaker, is known for such movies like “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai” and “Stranger than Paradise.” Jarmusch’s 2013 indie vampire drama “Only Lovers Left Alive,” which was a standout at the Cannes Film Festival, included Van Wissem’s lute music in the film soundtrack.
READ MORE: Listen: Complete Soundtrack For Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Only Lovers Left Alive’
Van Wissem and Jarmusch also started to collaborate on albums, as Jarmusch is a talented musician himself. The two have created three studio albums previously; “Apokatastasis,” “Concerning the Entrance into Eternity,” and “The Mystery of Heaven.” Both their newest album ‘Draw Aside the Veil’ and ‘Mystery of Heaven’ were recorded for Sacred Bones Records and are narrative continuations of each other. As Van Wissem’s lute abilities suggest, the albums are mostly instrumental, but their music has a lot more beneath the surface than you’d think. ‘Draw Aside the Veil’ delves into the works of William Blake and Emanuel Swedenborg, two theologians/philosophers of the 1700s, as well as Russian occultist Helena Blavatsky. Considering their music is mainly instrumental, the references to the three past philosophers are mainly expressed through song titles, yet each song will hopefully reinforce the title and philosophy even more.
Of course, Jarmusch is still including his filmmaking skills into the LP. In the music video for the single “The Two Paths,” Jules Guerin was brought on to direct an experience as psychedelic and deep-thinking as the song. When asked about the video, Guerin had this to say:
“To me, listening to Jozef Van Wissem and Jim Jarmusch’s music is definitely an introspective journey made of darkness and light. A hallucinatory exploration generated by the etheric nature of Jozef’s lute and Jim’s textures and feedbacks guides us through the unknown realms of our psyche. I started visualizing an endless walk in the desert, and at some point, I felt intoxicated by the beauty and lonesomeness of these places… losing focus… slowly blinking the eyes and eventually closing them and surrender to the inside light. Like in a near-death experience. The desolation of a ghost town and the infinity of the desert seemed to fit perfectly ‘The Two Paths’ ambiance.”
Watch the video for “The Two Paths” here:
