ICCHĀ

Balancing rhytmic electronica, angular wave and powerful chants, ICCHĀ is a frenzied sonic fusion between Belgium and Bangladesh.

The Belgian duo, comprising musician Micha Volders and visual artist Miet Warlop, present their debut album titled ICCHĀ. Stemming from their monumental performance Chant For Hope (2023), which showcased native artists from Dhaka, ICCHĀ revolves around the musical cadence and rich heritage of the Bengali language.

A powerful and uncompromising journey, ICCHĀ offers a captivating soundworld with angular drumming and vocals that oscillate in mantra-like repetitions. The album features the performances of slam poet Shayer Noor, the energetic Muhammad Shanto, and the Chittagonian-spirited Tanny Das Gupta as protagonists, navigating the vibrant frenzy of Dhaka. Their contributions were carefully curated into a cohesive album that retains the inherent structure and heart of the original performance, Chant For Hope.

The pulsating debut single, OK GO – ঠিক আ|ছে যাও highlights the mantra-like shouts of Shayer Noor. The contrast between the deep, rumbling Bodhran drum and the airy backing vocals, repeating the same word, lends it a monumental and standout character.

Set for release on May 24th, the album will be available on picture disc vinyl LP and across all digital platforms via the Belgian label Mutropia.

ABOUT THE ALBUM

ICCHĀ, meaning 'desire', is an international project that commenced in 2023 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Spearheaded and conceptualized by visual artist Miet Warlop and musically enhanced by producer Micha Volders, the work "Chant For Hope" was collaboratively realized with seven native performers and remiered at the opening of the Dhaka Art Summit. This monumental living sculpture involved casting hundreds of Bengali words in plaster, fostering a dynamic interplay between performers, public space, and participation while exploring the relationship between humans and language. The performance rendered words tangible, sometimes resulting in unexpected chaos and impromptu slogans.

Collaborating in Dhaka – a hectic and turbulent metropolis with 14.5 million inhabitants – towards a shared goal was a profound experience for everyone involved. Despite cultural contrasts and unexpected challenges, these elements ultimately infused the project with palpable energy and a sense of collective purpose.

The performers wore headsets with microphones connected to the city's largest sound system. Despite encountering cut cables, distorted sound, and a lack of grounding in the system, the musical context of the performance eventually emerged, guided by Micha Volders at the controls.

After the performance, the intense and energetic sound recordings were brought back to Belgium, where Volders and Warlop meticulously worked on them in the studio. The often lo-fi audio recordings from Dhaka were curated and re-arranged, transforming conversations into lead vocals, environmental sounds into rhythms, and vocals into intricate harmonies. These ideas were distilled into seven tracks, following the inherent structure of Chant For Hope while offering a standalone musical narrative.

ABOUT MICHA VOLDERS

Micha Volders is a producer and musician with a fondness for all things weird & bizarre. As a musician, he has performed on stage with Vermin Twins, Meteor Musik, among others. As a producer, he guided Belgian bands like Whispering Sons, Gruppo Di Pawlowski and The Germans to search for an authentic sonic framework that resonates with their songs and ideas.

ABOUT MIET WARLOP

Miet Warlop is trained as a visual artist at KASK School of Arts (Ghent). Her award-winning performance One Song has been touring the world since 2022.

She gradually explored the performative aspect of her work, which eventually led to creating pieces for theatre - alongside interventions in galleries, concert halls and museums.

Central in Warlops energetic work is making the static-dynamic and the dynamicstatic. She offers clarity, the capacity to integrate things and reconsiders thoughts. She treats art as an experience, like ritual concerts or choreographic objects. She works in cycles rather than in projects and believes in the attitude that accompanies an idea.