• Arnold de Boer - vocals, guitar, claps
• Terrie Hessels - guitar
• Katherina Bornefeld - drums, vocals
• Andy Moor - guitar, baritone guitar

“We always start from zero when we make a new album. We enter the rehearsal room with a few loose ideas, a riff or a beat and see what happens. There is always the risk that it doesn’t work out. That risk is part of our music and of our lives.”

The Ex.

The Ex released their previous regular studio album as a 4-piece (Catch My Shoe) in 2010. While that might seem like a long stretch, their schedule since then tells you another story. The band also released a second album with Ethiopian legend Getatchew Mekuria, and another one with Brass Unbound, featuring several of their friends from the realm of free improvisation. On top of that, there were also a few 7″ split singles, several phenomenal birthday festivals and a lavish photo book that was published as a tribute to the late Getatchew Mekuria in 2016. But now there’s new music. With the unmistakable “Ex energy”. The three-pronged guitar approach is still as exciting as ever, with the guitars of Andy Moor, Terrie Hessels and Arnold de Boer creating tense, interlocking webs of connections and drummer Katherina Bornefeld pushing the band with dancing, hypnotic patterns.

There are some remnants of their African adventures, but most of all, this is a return to the power of The Ex as a unit that effortlessly juggles noisy/disjointed guitar parts, trance-like grooves, defiant chanting and a relentless, infectious drive. Colourful and fierce at the same time, 27 Passports once again expands their horizon and enriches their sound, while remaining true to the core of their philosophy: “Forward In All Directions!”.

Guy Peters, Geraarsbergen, 2018.

Tracklist

1. Soon All Cities (6:28)
2. The Heart Conductor (4:50)
3. This Car Is My Guest (6:36)
4. New Blank Document (7:17)
5. Silent Waste (2:36)
6. Piecemeal (6:56)
7. Birth (4:24)
8. Footfall (5:00)
9. The Sitting Chins (5:27)
10. Four Billion Tulip Bulbs (7:09)

Includes 36-page photo book with photos by Andy Moor.

• Recorded at Electric Monkey Studio, Amsterdam, by Kasper Frenkel. October 16 + 17, 2017.
• Guitar and baritone overdubs by Andy, recorded at Next To Jaap Studio, Voorhout by Arnold, October 29.
• Guitar, percussion and vocal overdubs by Terrie, Arnold and Katherina, recorded at Electric Monkey by Kasper, October 31.
• Katherina’s vocals and Arnold’s guitar on “Silent Waste”, recorded at Arnolds Upstairs, November 28.
• Mixed by Arnold and The Ex at Arnold's Upstairs.
• Mastered by Tammo Kersbergen.
• Cut by Lex van Coeverden at Dance International.
• Pressed by Discomat bvba, Herk de Stad, Belgie.
• Artwork and layout: Emma Fischer.
• Photos: Andy Moor.