Temple Fang Premiere Jerusalem/The Bridge in Full; Out Tomorrow
One could not accuse Temple Fang of not making the most of their 2022. In addition to following the late-2021 release of their debut album, Fang Temple (review here), with a vinyl issue through Electric Spark this past Spring, signing to Stickman Records to release the 2CD just last month, touring and making stops at the likes of Roadburn, Freak Valley (review here) and frickin’ Duna Jam, releasing 2020’s Live at Merleyn (review here) on tape and hosting their own inaugural Right on Mountain Festival in Nijmegen, the Amsterdam-based four-piece will wrap the year on Nov. 29 — tomorrow — by issuing Jerusalem/The Bridge, a 21-minute, two-song offering on Electric Spark and Right on Mountain that pushes their sound even further.
And in fascinating ways. They offer the narrative below, and the timing is a little opaque, but as the band — guitarist/vocalist Jevin de Groot, bassist/vocalist Dennis Duijnhouwer, guitarist/pianist Ivy van der Veer and drummer Egon Loosveldt — looked to integrate Loosveldt into the lineup, it seems they essentially did so by writing together. “Jerusalem” (10:04) and “The Bridge” (11:44) came about as a part of that. They had already moved forward from Fang Temple, the basic tracks for which were taken from live recordings, and though they were ostensibly touring to support that album, would head out with new songs in tow, and having seen them perform live this summer, I can tell you first hand that what they present on stage is a vision of cosmic psychedelia very much their own.
“Jerusalem” and “The Bridge” capture an emerging duality in progress, structurally and in terms of presentation. Duijnhouwer and de Groot switch out as lead vocalists between the two, and each has a strong persona coming through the material. For Duijnhouwer, he fronts the mellow-space-riffer “Jerusalem” very much in command of the proceedings, not a krautrock auteur — the band’s vibe is too collaborative for such things — but aware of the audience and mindful of the engagement of the listener. a A hairy roll of groove is duly underscored by righteous-punch bass, and a verse/chorus pattern unfolds, molten but catchy, across the song’s first half before a short break of guitar introduces the build on which they’re about to embark.
Enter van der Meer on piano — an element one does not expect (or hope, for that matter) Temple Fang are utilizing for the last time — as an essential part of the lush fluidity that ensues. In plotted but exploratory fashion — that is, they know where they’re going even if they’re willing to throw in a few turns en route — the band coalesce toward a mini-apex, a dropdown and rebuild, pushed into prog territory by Loosveldt‘s snare work alone, never mind the trades in guitar lines between de Groot and van der Meer or the winding conclusion that seems to end the song suddenly despite the distance traveled. “Jerusalem” is vibrant, a push in tempo and rhythm but not a shove, memorable in its early chorus, and it insists on nothing because it doesn’t need to. By the time they’re done with it, the case is well and gorgeously made.
“The Bridge” also has a build, but is less business-up-front-party-in-the-back (the mullet structure) in enacting it. There’s little hint early of the consuming wash of distortion to come, but a standalone guitar introduction clues the listener immediately to the shift toward outright exploration. There are verses, a chorus of sorts, but as de Groot takes over on vocals, with Duijnhouwer seeming to answer each measure of the initial echoing vocal lines on bass, the direction is handwriting-on-page lyrically and there’s a patience in how the track plays out that feels like a departure from “Jerusalem” even as the tonal richness of the guitar and bass is consistent. A second-ish verse is backed by headphone-ready, am-I-imagining-this whispers circa the five-minute mark as the volume continues to grow into the chorus, and it’s when the howl of lead guitar starts that the song reveals its full scope.
The great irony of “The Bridge” is that it never really lets go of its structure. But it sounds like it does. “Jerusalem,” on the other hand, drops the verse/chorus tradeoffs for an instrumental back end while coming across as more straightforward. This is Temple Fang. As “The Bridge” slow-careens through its somewhat understated payoff, it’s more about spiritual realization than pummeling volume, and the execution remains dynamic — which is to say, it’s not like they get to a riff, ride it out for four or eight lines and end the song; there’s more happening — and Loosveldt and Duijnhouwer hold the central progression together even as the guitars seem intent on pulling it apart at around eight minutes in. There’s a comedown, a quick resurgence, and over bass and sparse guitar, de Groot ends with cyclical recitations of the chorus lyric; the band letting go with gentleness that probably shouldn’t be as surprising as it is.
It is a tale of the going and the gone, and what does any of it mean? Well, we exist in an incomprehensible universe that’s either expanding around us at all times every single atom or perhaps already contracting in an unstoppable crush of everything and who the hell even knows. So what does anything mean? We live, maybe, and we die. Maybe there’s solace in that truth — it is a thing to know — but if you want to talk about rock and roll, it means that Temple Fang have left Fang Temple behind, and that their first album, glorious as it was, was not the sum total of what they have to offer by a longshot in sound or style. Not one for betting, but I’d wager Jerusalem/The Bridge isn’t either, and rather that the real heart of the band is in the process of manifestation, the sheer creativity itself. However they choose to interact with their audience, whatever route they take to entrancing the crowd before them, real or imagined, it is the journey that will define them and the journey that they’re for and with which they’re searching and communing.
Jerusalem/The Bridge is streaming in its entirety on the player below, and I feel fortunate to host it ahead of the release tomorrow. The prior-alluded background follows in blue, courtesy of the band.
Thanks and enjoy:
When we found our new drummer Egon Loosveldt in August of 2021 we had 5 weeks with him to prepare for the upcoming run of shows we had booked, the first ‘real’ shows after the pandemic.
Because our first ever jams with him were so inspired, instead of teaching him the old songs we decided we were gonna go off the deep end and write a totally new set of material, a bit of a risky move as we didn’t know how audiences were going to react to us playing all new stuff but a decision essential to us as a band and what we hold sacred, the music and the moment.
We also knew, as the official tour started in April 2022, we wanted to hit the road hard and therefore wouldn’t have time to do much recording. However, when we heard our beloved Galloway Studios in Nijmegen was to be demolished and build back up from scratch at a different location, we knew we wanted one last chance to record there. So in May 2022, after doing three shows in Switzerland and Austria, we drove 700+ miles from Graz to Nijmegen, set up our backline and recorded what was essentially our live set at the time while the building around us was being torn down, slowly covering everything in a layer of dust.
The two songs on this EP represent two different poles of Temple Fang. Sung by Dennis, Side A (“Jerusalem”) is a hard hitter, born from the original sessions with Egon and featuring a surprise turn on piano from Ivy. This take was done right after setting up our gear and checking sounds, the only one we ended up doing of this song.
Sung by Jevin, Side B (“The Bridge”) was a song we had been kicking around for a while, originally intended for “Fang Temple” but not fully realised until a few weeks before this tour. A slow-burner, harboring a lot of tension and not much release. Thanks for listening, XO DD/TF
Jerusalem/The Bridge is released in an edition of 500 on black vinyl, 300 through Electric Spark and 200 through Right on Mountain. Digital through Stickman.
Produced, engineered and mixed by Sebastiaan van Bijlevelt at Galloway Studio, Nijmegen
Assistance by Niek Manders
Mastered by Alex McCollaugh at True East Mastering, Nashville
Art and Design by Right On Mountain
Music by Temple Fang
Temple Fang is:
Dennis Duijnhouwer: Vox, Bass
Jevin de Groot: Vox, Guitar
Ivy van der Veer: Guitar, Piano
Egon Loosveldt: Drums
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Tags: Amsterdam, Electric Spark Records, Jerusalem/The Bridge, Right on Mountain Records, Temple Fang, Temple Fang Jerusalem/The Bridge, The Netherlands
Hi JJ, I discovered Temple Fangs debut release of their double CD Fang Temple through your site last month it was released in 2021. To bad because it would have been my album of 2022 hands down . Or album of the year for 2021 it is that fucking good.Looking forward to Jerusalem/ The Bridge. Thanks for the heads up on this fantastic band.