As an American in Belgium, McCloud Zicmuse developed a deep love for some of the customs of his new-found homeland: a specific kind of archery (‘staande wip’), celebrating carnaval, aging geuze-beers, and not in the least: playing de ‘hommel”, the Flemish cousin of the apalachian Dulcimer. With the persona Linus Vandewolken, Zicmuse took a deep dive into these traditions. His love for the dulcimer is very real, yet he breaks out of the narrow framework in which the instrument is often handled. The additional use of homemade flutes, percussion instruments and some humming definitely add up to the experience.

Zicmuse released a handful of tapes as Linus Vandewolken, and a double 10” on okraina records. But his musical curriculum is way longer than that. Under his own name, he did releases on ao Shelter press, with le ton mite on crammed discs, and contributed to a long, long list of releases by artists as diverse as Yume Bitsu, Maher Shalal Hash Basz or Singers.

For this new opus, Linus Vandewolken provides some richly brewed compositions, with no added sugar or yeast. There is an elements of sourdough, the richness of earthy odors, the first song (Terugkeer van de Kudde) sounds like a smooth multi-tracked moment, but is actually a live multi-instrumental piece: a home-made double reed xaulos is played sparingly along the fingerpicked strings of the home-made hommel. 

Like the barley in the beer, the hommel remains the main ingredient of the disc. Multiple techniques are used to unleash its voice, from tapping to bowing, to all at the same time. A compilation of travels, residencies, desires… songs have been harvested from 2019-2024 in France, Poland, Sweden, England, moments of Vandewolken’s wanderings, evoking inspirations & collaborations in unlikely spots, like a pump organ cameo of Christo Wallers in a village chapel a short distance from Hadrian’s Wall. 

As borders change and move, the flute comes around to sweetly catch our attention, metal lines from a letterpress shop invade the hommel strings creating distortions & unlikely rhythms. Points of silence like small bubbles rising in the glass of a freshly poured geuze, an old gueuze from Niemandaal, »Oude Geuze uit Niemanddaal«.