Ultra rich textures, enveloping ambiances, crackling noises, layering, dynamics, and a central holistic conviction visceral enough to carve deep into any listener’s soul. These are but singular elements which when summed together can create experiences out of this world, and even then, being able to achieve something so sublime requires a particular, intangible vision to truly shine. I’ve always enjoyed sound art in its various manifestations, and have thought that deep within the bowels of artistry, there is this rather poignant stratum of musicians that are being guided by something natural yet inexplicable, doing miraculous things with mundane means, rarely surfacing for the broader general public albeit it would very much deserve to. These unknowns are spoken quietly and usually spread with those already understanding of the notion rather than promoting them to people who either don’t know or don’t care to know. Yet, they are deserving of all the light that can be shed upon them. I’ve made it somewhat of a mission of mine to disinter these artists and give them a reasonable platform that understands them, and today, dear reader, I’m presenting to you a discovery.
end, red dress is The Netherlands-based experimental sound artist unifying different aspects of ambient, electronica, field recordings, musique concrète, noise, and many other niche leanings, into one glorious aural being that feels very much sentient on its own. The particularly peculiar name drew me in when I first came across it, and right there and then I knew I’ve stumbled upon something precious. To be clear, I couldn’t care less about buzzwords such as faith or believing things are destined to go the way they do, everything happens for a reason and other yada yada sentiments as a placeholder for personal shortcomings and bad decisions, but I do think that there are certain rules in nature, and certain things are drawn to each other in inscrutable ways. The human spirit seeks nooks to settle into. How new age bullshit of me, huh? Anyway.
The figure behind the project, Twan, is affiliated with a multitude of others, some of which we’ll touch on later, but this is all about end, red dress, and the two full-lengths plus a few standalone songs put out under the moniker. These tracks were mostly either made for sound installations or art initiatives, and are certainly fascinating pieces, not in the least because even though they were conceived almost two decades prior with a massive gap up until 2024’s series of untitled events, they sit into the act’s discography without any mental gymnastics, detailing the origins of the project in an unusual fashion. As to why that is, well, follows. I also got a chance to chat with Twan about all things end, red dress and more, how things started, how they’re going, all that. As to how his musical career started, he told me the following;
‘A while ago I stumbled upon some old pictures of myself as a little kid, one of them was me on stage rockin’ a toy guitar at some local event. I think that picture marks the exact moment it all started. During my early adolescence MTV was still respectable with shows such as Alternative Nation and Headbangers Ball, so at some point the toy guitar got replaced by an electric guitar and various bands with friends were formed and disbanded. Spend lots of time in rehearsal spaces and on venue stages, continuously rockin’ on like that little kid of years back. But simultaneously I was also fascinated by sound in a less-conventional kind of way. I started to really explore that during my years at an art academy. The toy guitar came back.‘
And on that note, it was apt to ask how initially acquiring the toy guitar ultimately led to the creation of end, red dress;
‘Most projects throughout the years were always a form of collaboration. Either in a steady heavy band formation or as some kind of electronic-oriented jamsession. But I wanted to have the space to explore things on my own, unhindered and unbothered. I used various monikers for this and one of them was end, red dress. I like how it sounds phonetically, and it’s a bit of a play with words. Well.. at least how I think it sounds since I’m not a native English speaker. A few years back I needed to take back productivity so I started creating music for myself again. And for that occasion end, red dress was brought back out of hiatus as well. It suited perfectly.‘
The albums are certainly the main dish to gorge upon, albeit in context, calling them ‘albums’ to begin with is a bit… off, in some way. They are more like moments in time separated with brief pauses (depending on Bandcamp’s buffer, it can be brief or not-so), and while there are individual songs present, it’s honestly merely a technical term. These releases should without a shadow of a doubt be taken in as a whole, from start to finish, which shouldn’t be too difficult even with the modern day’s attention span in mind, as the lengths are quite easily digestible.
series of untitled events doesn’t waste time in getting to the point, starting with some metallic hits and gravel-esque washes while heavier machinery flows in, just to be swept back and forth. The second installment drones on with less of a pace, while the third introduces some guitar and reverse swells, taking the atmosphere more towards rough ambient from the industrial-coded start. Crackles melt together with haunting echoes again, and you can pretty much hear the dust these five first installments have been gathering since 2008, when they were initially crafted. A new counterpart for that dust gets introduced last, as we get to the main course, the fifteen-minute closer “it ambles the trail dulled, uneventful, and rest assured”. Even when knowing there was ample time between these tracks, it’s pretty much inaudible even to the most precise ear. The closing opus finely completes the circle and adds the last sonic brush strokes to this collage, which endures constant reruns to a rather great degree.
One staple in my questions to artists is that how they approach writing in general and how it has changed over the years. Being something of a scientist myself, I’m always intrigued about these things;
‘Oh that’s a tough one since I don’t really have a specific approach. Sometimes it’s a couple of sounds I find intriguing which attract this whole lot of mass around it and results in a track, but other times it’s just a concept or a thought and the rest is built from there. I do work slow. Tediously slow. I really need to be in the right mindset to be able to work, I can’t force it even though sometimes I really want to. Tried deadlining myself, but it feels as if it’s just backfiring into mediocrity. I rather have some unfinished tracks just simmer for years on end before it gets moulded into a final work.
‘My approach certainly changed over the years. It used to be kind of unhinged or something. The body of thought was there but in a rough state I’d say. Throughout the years it became more and more refined, a clearer vision. That doesn’t mean I don’t leave room for experimentation, but the experimentation adheres to that aforementioned vision.‘
The wailing of ominous electroacoustics and static hum that end, red dress employs to their maximum potential is drenched in emotion, yet soothing and calming in many ways. I’ve spent a good amount of the past month just sitting on my porch drinking damn fine coffee, listening to this material, sinking into my desperations and sacred thoughts, while with a keen eye watching the garden come to life again after a long and weary winter. We are probably talking about days rather than hours at this point, to be honest. There is just something unfathomably beautiful in that, following every bloom and blossom break through the dead scene, overloading it with vibrancy slowly but steadily. That sentiment has quite a bit of overlap to end, red dress‘ music, and the artistry associated with it.
With these mentions of installments and exhibitions, I asked Twan how he sees his artistry and its relation to these things;
‘The artistry binds all my activities together I’d say. I feel it’s essential that there is a body of thought present within an artist, from which the artist can originate and validate his work. From this body of thought things can be expressed. Now, as strongly as I feel about this.. I have the opposite of how a body of work should be experienced by a spectator. Sure, I am honoured if somebody is deeply touched by a body of work of mine, but their experience is theirs and theirs alone. Maybe it doesn’t resemble what I tried to convey, but if it resonates with them it’s the best you can hope for. In the end, we are all alone. Wow. This really didn’t answer your question.‘
the brink from last year started as a generative sound piece made for an art exhibition, and even though evolved into something of its own, still has the kind of tonalities and hues you could easily see yourself hearing while wandering the corridors of some museum somewhere, empty of other people but filled with life of its own. This is where I will underline the sound art part I mentioned in the opening lines a few times, as this album is a perfect and acute example of what that is, beginning to end.
Evocative by design, simultaneously esoteric yet palpable, the field recordings add an organic layer to the mix while the sparse ethereal guitar and piano appear here and there, and the entirety ebbs and flows with sovereign ease from one extreme to the other. “this abiding threshold yearns and wails” always stands out with its melancholic atmosphere that can force a tear out of the most stoic and hardened person’s eye, while the following “it’s the thinnest and brittlest of veils” continues to remind you of how fleeting everything is, somehow turning you from a listener to a passenger. Where the ride ultimately leads is apparent to us all, but what happens when you step out of the vehicle at the terminus, is up for anyone’s guess. Like life, the brink also ends in cacophony slowly settling down, introducing unknown horizons above the familiar ones. It’s amazing how much can be achieved in less than thirty minutes.
As said, the name of the project is nothing short of interesting, and the song titles, artworks, themes, even the capitalization follows suit. Quirks aside, there is a reason to everything, regardless of whether or not that is for you or I as spectators to know or understand;
‘To me the music, the titles, and the visuals all work together in trying to convey something. Some titles really need the rest of the titles to bloom, while other titles are short poetic gestures in themselves. Now, speaking of this ‘something’ which I’m trying to convey: I feel it is not important for the spectator to specifically know what this ‘something’ is. Actually, I’d say it would diminish the personal experience of a spectator. I am aware this seems like a harsh opinion, even entitled maybe. But I feel it actually brings you closer to things.‘
While the end, red dress material is pristine as is, you might’ve found yourself wanting more. As I said early on, the artist also has a multitude of other projects, collaborations, and one-offs that explore their own worlds, yet share that very same artistic red thread. A lot of these are hosted under KLITINK (or kl!t!nk, you know, the sound that metal makes when struck), and can be found here.
‘KLITINK started years ago when I was attending the art academy. In the beginning it was still a bit normative, with more or less a band-structure. That soon deviated in a more free-form format: each new gig had different people playing along in an improvisational manner. It became an outlet of collaborations with releases using different monikers. It’s not really to be considered a label, but rather as some kind of overarching entity that binds those collaborations together. Besides that, I’ve been in some doom/black/sludge/core bands throughout the years. Great times, great adventures, and great outlets for a specific kind of heaviness currently absent.‘
I must say that I love it when I encounter artists who live and breathe their art. This is not to say that anyone or their output should be valued based on how unhinged they are (since that has a tendency to come with the craft), but it’s more of a reassuring thing for me personally. Like, I’m not alone at the batshit department with everything I do and go for in my highly unstable personal life revolving around arts. Not that I would think I’d be, but, you know… Crazy knows crazy.
I originally came across end, red dress on a beetlecrab.audio compilation. There appeared a few new songs over a few different comps, and putting those into context with the album timeframes, it did move forward the cogs of expectancy quite a bit. But, apparently, I should hold my horses for now;
‘Those tasters you refer to are perfect examples of works that, to me… needed additional simmering. They’ll be included on an upcoming album, but in an altered state. One more than the other, but still. The album is quite in a final stage though, I hope to finish it up soon and release it on a small-run cassette tape and on Bandcamp. You already know this but I really like the cassette as a medium, the fragility and fleetingness of it suits the overall sense of my music perfectly. As for future works: I’ve already got a whole bunch of field recordings from a specific location waiting to be used for a more conceptual oriented album. But with my work rate… don’t hold your breath.‘
Let’s not hold our breath then, but it might help to collectively give Twan a bit of a positive reminding push and gather some buzz around end, red dress (which is, well, the purpose of this fucking thing), which is rather easily done over at the project’s Bandcamp page. You and those around you most likely deserve good things, so there’s some to be found over there. Meanwhile, I’ll once again disappear into the ether for a bit and bid you farewell by means of the below photo, bringing back the toy guitar from earlier on, in a presentation of utmost badassery neither you nor I can not achieve during this lifetime. Ta-da.
