The Snake

Wildbirds & Peacedrums is the married couple Mariam Wallentin (vocals) and Andreas Werliin (percussion). They are not only a duo with a unique and personal expressive style, but the 2008 “Jazz in Sweden” group to boot. Although their music is not jazz in the traditional sense, it embraces all the vital elements that characterise the genre – playfulness, improvisation and raw energy. “Love-struck percussion-indie-jazz-blues,” as the Swedish music journal Lira wrote of their debut album, “Heartcore”. The duo themselves see jazz as a platform for breaking boundaries and for keeping their music in a constant state of flux.

The Snake was recorded over three days in Svenska Grammofonstudion in Gothenburg, home to the likes of Soundtrack of Our Lives, Håkan Hellström and José Gonzales. And the recording is indeed more rock than jazz. For three days they laid the groundwork, and for another three they added the extras, using such instruments as oil drums, xylophones, santours (a Per¬sian dulcimer), synths and zithers, to name but a few.