LISTEN: SeeD — Wyld Things
SeeD are a five-piece acoustic band split between the Netherlands and Ireland who call their music fantasy and pagan folk. The band draws on fairy tales, Celtic myth and fantasy worlds like The Lord of the Rings and The Dark Crystal, and plays only acoustic instruments: flutes and whistles, six- and twelve-string guitars, mandolin, hand drums and a sliding didgeridoo, with five voices singing in Dutch, Irish and English. "Wyld Things," out on October 11, follows May's "Bloem" and will most likely lend its name to the next album, due in 2027.
Before you press play, take a good look at the cover, painted by the band's percussionist Robin Dekker. Strange creatures have gathered around a campfire: half-people, half-mushrooms, predators and grazers feasting side by side, while up in the trees sits something that seems to be made of nothing but a pair of eyes. You can't tell whether they're sad, merry or angry. It's a little eerie and very cozy at the same time, and you want to pull up a log and join them.
The music does a similar thing to you. "Wyld Things" is intoxicating, fairy-tale and hypnotic all at once. It spins you around in some kind of devilish dance and never settles on one simple emotion: it's scary and playful, mystical and warm, and all of it magically holds together. Every instrument here is acoustic, and you can hear it: the breath in the flutes, the strings of the twelve-string, the hand on the skin of the drum.
The whole band sings together, people united by their love for the fantasy universe they've built and for the old traditions they bring back to life, and you can hear that love in every note. Meditating alone at home is one thing. Walking into a room where fifty people are meditating together is something else entirely: the air turns into a kind of force field. That's what happens when SeeD sing in chorus. No wonder the song itself is an invitation. "Will you play, will you sing, will you dance with us?" they ask in English, and then, in Dutch, tell you to let your eyes wander and let yourself get lost until you find your way again. Honestly, it's hard to say no.
Listen to "Wyld Things" below.
Before you press play, take a good look at the cover, painted by the band's percussionist Robin Dekker. Strange creatures have gathered around a campfire: half-people, half-mushrooms, predators and grazers feasting side by side, while up in the trees sits something that seems to be made of nothing but a pair of eyes. You can't tell whether they're sad, merry or angry. It's a little eerie and very cozy at the same time, and you want to pull up a log and join them.
The music does a similar thing to you. "Wyld Things" is intoxicating, fairy-tale and hypnotic all at once. It spins you around in some kind of devilish dance and never settles on one simple emotion: it's scary and playful, mystical and warm, and all of it magically holds together. Every instrument here is acoustic, and you can hear it: the breath in the flutes, the strings of the twelve-string, the hand on the skin of the drum.
The whole band sings together, people united by their love for the fantasy universe they've built and for the old traditions they bring back to life, and you can hear that love in every note. Meditating alone at home is one thing. Walking into a room where fifty people are meditating together is something else entirely: the air turns into a kind of force field. That's what happens when SeeD sing in chorus. No wonder the song itself is an invitation. "Will you play, will you sing, will you dance with us?" they ask in English, and then, in Dutch, tell you to let your eyes wander and let yourself get lost until you find your way again. Honestly, it's hard to say no.
Listen to "Wyld Things" below.