VÖLUR & CARES Unveil “Windbourne Sorcery I," A Meditative Storm of Strings, Spirits, and Sonic Spellcraft!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy6s1o9TO3c

Canadian doom-folk experimentalists VÖLUR have released their new single “Windbourne Sorcery I”, a transportive instrumental that draws on Kurdish rhythmic traditions, Persian timbres, and Western harmonic sensibilities. The track is the latest glimpse into Breathless Spirit, the band’s ambitious fourth studio album and their first full-length collaboration with avant-producer CARES (James Beardmore).

At the heart of “Windbourne Sorcery I” is the tanbur, a three-stringed Kurdish lute played here by Lucas Gadke in his first time recording the instrument with VÖLUR, though it previously featured on their 2020 EP Zwischen den Wäldern. Inspired by the playing of Ali Akbar Moradi and the atmospherics of TALK TALK’s “Spirit of Eden,” the piece flows intuitively through unconventional time signatures, primarily a 10/8 rhythmic cycle (3-2-2-3), before opening into a spellbinding stretch of free improvisation led by Laura C. Bates’ violin.

The song features no lyrics, but instead opens with a chant over a contrapuntal descending melody, eventually expanding into a complex, trance-inducing chant cycle in 24 beats (10+7+7), a hallmark of VÖLUR’s genre-defying sound. The band’s commitment to authenticity is clear: Lucas studied tanbur for three years with Tehran-born maestro Reza Houshvar, bringing a deeply rooted, personal resonance to this cross-cultural composition.

“Windbourne Sorcery I” exemplifies the sonic terrain of Breathless Spirit, a six-track journey shaped over five years, originally conceived as part of VÖLUR’s Die Sprachen Der Vögel series. Produced in deep collaboration with CARES, the album draws on Icelandic folklore, Persian modal structures, doom metal, and free jazz. The result is a deeply textured and emotionally resonant work that dissolves the boundaries between genres, cultures, and consciousness.

Breathless Spirit features contributions from Amy Bowles (PONY DA LOOK) and Zoë Santo (DIVKA), and is visually anchored by a striking stone-cut print by Inuit artist Saimaiyu Akesuk, which also inspired some of the album’s compositional rhythms. It will be available on black vinyl in two editions, including a “diehard edition” that comes with a bonus 7” and a custom Breathless Spirit tea blend created in partnership with BLACK THRONE.