Ventilateur releases new album 'Rage De Vivre'

With 'Rage De Vivre', VENTILATEUR presents the fourth single and title track of their latest album. In less than two minutes, the trio, this time accompanied by singer Reena Riot (Naomi Sijmons), delivers a powerful track that also serves as the album's closing piece. Bombastic drums, staccato piano keys, and a driving bass guitar support the confident voice of Reena Riot, who lyrically waves concepts like honesty and sincerity like a flag above her head. These lyrics were written by Sijmons herself after discussions with the band about the conceptual content of the album.

It is no coincidence that VENTILATEUR closes the album with this track. Themes such as zest for life, rebellion, and connection, which are woven throughout the album, culminate in 'Rage De Vivre' into a track that can serve as an artistic statement for the album. The short duration of the track and the use of voice are also aspects that make this track emblematic of the entire LP. After the introspective album "Hoofdplaat," written and recorded during the isolated corona times, VENTILATEUR wants to celebrate life in all its complexity with 'Rage De Vivre'. This intense zest for life is shaped by the live recording of energetic tracks, the combination of post-jazz and post-punk influences, and various collaborations.

VENTILATEUR is an instrumental project combining sounds from the vivid worlds of contemporary jazz and postpunk. The three-piece band, consisting of Iben Stalpaert on drums, Jasper Hollevoet on bass and Daan Soenens on guitar, uses angular rhythms and flowing melodies to construct compositions that embody both contrast and cohesion. Originally from Bruges, the band currently has Ghent as its homebase.

The trio released its self-titled debut EP on 22 March 2019. VENTILATEUR won awards at Fresh Fish, Red Rock Rally and Burgrock that same year and was one of the laureates of the then brand new Sound Track. Thanks to Sound Track 2020, the band received a residency at Het Entrepot in Bruges and a year of professional coaching from VI.BE and other national players in the music landscape.

In 2020, VENTILATEUR joined forces with young Ghent theatre collective Camping Sunset for the performance Happiness. The band composed the soundtrack for the play and also performed it live during the five-week run of the production. The music was subsequently recorded and released under the title A Soundtrack For Happiness at the Brussels label Sentimental.

In 2022, VENTILATEUR released its first full-length album with W.E.R.F. Records. 'Hoofdplaat', titled after the village near the manor house that served as its recording location, is the result of a long process of purification. VENTILATEUR presents the essence of their sound, stripped from all ballast.

VENTILATEUR balances on the border between the ‘niche’ world of instrumental jazz and the accessible world of the pop-rock circuit. From this position, the band aims to bring instrumental music to a wider audience. Apart from being purely intrinsically artistic, the trio's ambition is to excite a new audience for cultural participation and specifically the rich genre of jazz. Through their choice of accessibility within the experimental, the band aims to form a bridge between a wider audience and a musical world still too often labelled as ‘niche’. The musicians not only focus on the club and festival circuit, but have already written soundtracks for some short film projects and are also reaching out to the theatre world.

In its early years, VENTILATEUR was mainly known within the Flemish arts landscape on the Bruges-Ghent-Brussels axis. A soundtrack for Happiness and Hoofdplaat introduced VENTILATEUR to a new audience. Songs from the albums got airtime from Radio 1, Klara and other stations, and singles appeared in national playlists. The band’s music was also picked up by VRT, which used the single Nectar during several programs. In 2023, the band scored their biggest gig yet: Ghent Jazz on a podium curated by their label, W.E.R.F. Records.

VENTILATEUR as a project can count on the support of organisations such as W.E.R.F. Records, Cactus Music Centre, Het Entrepot and VI.BE. The band also has close ties with theatre companies such as Camping Sunset, Compagnie Cecilia and Ontroerend Goed and, of course, numerous connections within the Flemish and Brussels music scene.

Live:

26th March, Cactus, Bruges

29th March, Jazzcats, Kortrijk

More dates tba

Videoclips:

• Volk feat. Sebastien Dewaele: https://youtu.be/dgpz1mcWr7c?si=9f-N9NMxR26QPzRp
• 'Brûl' feat. Natham Daems https://youtu.be/C6yeoJ6KCQo?si=CAQBHPKdwVqiRcSQ
• 'For Better Days' feat. Luca Missiaen https://youtu.be/IYQmW_w6bR0?si=-OaCabS-4HMap7-h