P.S. Matangi Quartet & Ruben Hein

• 1 Brother to Brother 03:38
• 2 Devils & Angels 04:20
• 3 Elvire 03:22
• 4 Another Year 04:56
• 5 Cry Country 04:35
• 6 Persuading 01:21
• 7 On Parenting 02:57
• 8 Paper In A Bottle 04:06
• 9 13 Bar Blues 00:53
• 10 In Case The Fog Appears 04:30
• 11 Poem Of The Offended 01:09
• 12 Cloud 01:40
• 13 Misunderstood 01:56
• 14 Are We Going Mad? 02:56
• 15 For The Family 02:25
• 16 Swing (Bonus Track) 01:59
• 17 Matador (Bonus Track) 03:53
• Total Runtime 50:36

Info for P.S.

Thirty years after the release of the legendary album 'The Juliet Letters' by Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet, Matangi and Ruben Hein present a 21st-century response to this masterful song cycle. Inspired by the collected Dutch letters from the book P.S. by Jet Steinz, Matangi and Ruben have created new songs that add a contemporary chapter to the world of multidisciplinary music experiences.

The songs address themes of friendship, doubt, brotherly love, fear, and betrayal. They feature a contemporary, eclectic sound that blends elements of classical, jazz, and pop music.

"I think it's fantastic! As a quartet, we have been around for 25 years, and we have always played music by others. For me, it's really a revelation to do something you've never dared to do before, and to see it turn out so well." said Karsten.

After an intensive recording week at Studio150, under the guidance of Martin Fondse, the quartet is in full preparation for the realization of the album. An album to look forward to.

Matangi Quartet + Ruben Hein

Matangi Quartet
The last twenty-two years has seen Matangi grow into one of the most prominent and versatile ensembles in the Dutch music landscape and on the international stage. Its four members are all independent and distinctive musicians, but what binds them is an unbridled creative curiosity: for new music styles, and for as yet unknown repertoire and unexpected collaborations with other art forms, from cabaret to dance.

The quartet has never limited itself to one style of music since its foundation in 1999 at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague and the Rotterdam Conservatory. It has always embarked on new adventures, from classical to jazz and from dance to pop.

The Matangis have shared the stage with top classical musicians such as Maarten Koningsberger, Tania Kross, Paolo Giacometti, Severin von Eckardstein and Quatuor Ébène, and they have also ventured into crossover projects, including with comedians Herman van Veen and Youp van 't Hek, with bandoneon player Carel Kraayenhof, with jazz trumpeter Eric Vloeimans and pianist Martin Fondse, jazz pianist Michiel Braam, DJ Kypski, jazz vocalists Mathilde Santing and Ruben Hein and singer-songwriters Lori Lieberman and Tom McRae. With such pioneering forays outside of classical music, Matangi knows how to enthuse new audiences for the string quartet.

The quartet has appeared at numerous festivals, including the Delft Chamber Music Festival, the Grachtenfestival, Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Festival de Carthage in Tunisia, the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, the International Conservatoire Festival in St Petersburg, North Sea Jazz and the Liberation Festival Utrecht.

With their own annual (Un)heard Music Festival in The Hague, the Matangi Quartet surprises listeners with music that they have often never heard. They shine a spotlight on works that are rarely if ever heard in Dutch concert venues, and they also make connections with more well-known repertoire.

In 2002 the quartet was awarded the prestigious Kersjes van de Groenekan Prize, which is awarded annually to exceptional talent in Dutch chamber music.

All four musicians perform on instruments of Dutch workmanship. The cello and first violin have been provided on loan by the Dutch National Musical Instrument Foundation.

Matangi has released several CDs with Challenge Records International, Matangi Music, and Deutsche Grammophon. Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad wrote about their most recent CD, Canto Ostinato, Strings Attached (2020): “Matangi is emerging as the ideal interpreter. Anyone who has heard this quartet’s performance of Beethoven's through-composed Fourteenth String Quartet knows that these strings can weave a hypnotic long arc of tension. They also manage to evoke the addictive enchantment of Canto Ostinato.”

Ruben Hein
is a celebrated pop musician, composer, presenter, and orchestra conductor. He has served as a conductor for the National Youth Orchestra and has four studio albums to his name: "Loose Fit" (2010), "Hopscotch" (2013), "Dressed Up" (2014), and "Groundwork Rising" (2018). In 2011, he released a live album with the Metropole Orkest, along with an EP titled "The Overtone Sessions." He was also a member of the well-known British indie band Fink for a while. In 2012, Ruben won the Radio 6 Soul & Jazz Award, and the following year, he received the Edison Audience Award for "Hopscotch."

To the general public, Ruben is particularly known for his participation in the TV program "Wie Is De Mol?" (Who Is The Mole?) and "Linda's Zomerweken" (Linda's Summer Weeks). Ruben composed the soundtrack for the three-part documentary series "Op De Vlucht" (On The Run), which tells the story of his family during World War II. Ruben's upcoming music project is inspired by an expedition to Antarctica, and there is also a documentary in the works about this artistic chapter, directed by Hubert Neufeld.

This album contains no booklet.