“Through all our albums we are researching the so-called possible realities, parallel realities and universes”, Slovenian musician and Širom member Iztok Koren says over email, explaining the processes of experimental folk group. The Liquified Throne Of Simplicity is the fourth album by the band, who released their debut I. in 2016 and play with a collection of over a dozen different acoustic – sometimes handmade – instruments.

“We describe our music as imaginary folk”, Koren continues. “So, it’s not traditional, it has no roots in the past, but it explores what folk music could be, if, for example, the flow of history or humanity's collective inner psychological world would be different. Not necessarily radically different”, he adds, “but different in the small details, which in the end can cause a butterfly effect.”

The artwork for all Širom's releases to date has been created by Slovenian artist Marko Jakše, who paints imaginary scenes filled with fantastical creatures. “His style really resonates with our music,” Koren goes on. “For titles we are still using a collective automatic writing method, as used by some surrealist poets. Titles are a cross section of our subconscious mind flows, associations and personal responses to our music. The goal with our art is to reach a state where Jakše's paintings, our titles and music are in symbiosis, where they create together a unique combination of feelings and representations.”

The Liquified Throne Of Simplicity is released by tak:til/Glitterbeat on 8 April.

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Širom are featured on The Wire Tapper 50 CD. Wire subscribers can download the double compilation from our website.