Hudson Valley Resident Jim Jarmusch Collaborates on New Album

People mainly know Jim Jarmusch as the award-winning director of such movies as Stranger Than Paradise, Down By Law, and Dead Man. But before the part-time Hudson Valley resident rose to fame in the film world, he was active as a musician, performing with the New York postpunk/No Wave band the Del-Byzanteens in the early 1980s. And even as his cinematic career continues to keep him busy, Jarmusch has kept a toe in the music world, creating sounds with, among others, experimental lute player Jozef Van Wissem. This Friday, the duo of Jarmusch and Van Wissem will release An Attempt to Draw Aside the Veil, their fourth full-length studio album.

The two met in 2006 and began collaborating shortly after, with Van Wissem contributing to Jarmusch’s 2013 film Only Lovers Left Alive. An Attempt to Draw Aside the Veil is their second album for the Sacred Bones label after 2012’s The Mystery of Heaven. Like its predecessor, the new album examines the work of Russian occultist, philosopher, and Theosophical Society founder Helena Blavatsky. Since the album is mainly instrumental, the references to Blavatsky’s esoteric work is mostly referenced in the track titles, which allude to her teachings: “Concerning the White Horse,” “The Two Paths,” “When the Sun Rises Do You Not See A Round Disc of Fire.”

“An Attempt to Draw Aside the Veil is another adventure with Jozef into the realm of vibrating strings and the dreamlike musical textures of darkness and light,” says Jarmusch. “It was a real pleasure to collaborate with Jozef once again.”

Meditate on the enigmatic “The Two Paths,” below:

An Attempt to Draw Aside the Veil is out February 8 on Sacred Bones Records. To preorder, visit https://www.sacredbonesrecords.com/products/sbr218-jozef-van-wissem-jim-jarmusch-an-attempt-to-draw-aside-the-veil.

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