A Song About A Girls (2004)
(Chikaree Records distributed by Bang!)
Quotes:
“With A Song About a Girls Zita Swoon, former band member of dEUS, has delivered a new iron strong record. Front man Stef Kamil Carlens stayed, after the eccentric poppy Life=A Sexy Sanctuary from 2001, true to himself. The result is the proof: intimate texts in an acoustic atmosphere. Still, the experimental Zita Swoon groove is still felt on A Song About a Girls.” Martin Kuiper for Zone 020
“After three years of (musical) silence the Antwerp Zita Swoon proves to still belong to the best that the West-European continent has to offer. The building stones are now jazz, chamber music, chanson, blues and folk with a lot of attention for atmosphere, detail and pop sensibility. ‘A record from the A-category’.” De c104 from Oor
“The album features twelve melodic and fragile songs with the husky voice of Carlens giving an insight into his relationships with the female part of this world. New is the fact that three songs are sung in French- one with Axelle Red- and that Carlens gets away with it. Initially, the musical backdrop sounds quite simple but the more you listen to the album, the more you learn to appreciate the delicate craftsmanship of the musicians involved. Together with Arno’s French Bazaar, A Song About a Girls is the best Belgian music you’ll hear in 2004” EM for Plastiks #70
“It’s pop that pushes clichés aside and shows new directions. Their best so far. VPB for De Standaard
Stef Kamil Carlens: “I’ve been making records since I was 24 and have always done that with a band, with other people. Now I wanted to make music by myself. Even though the band did have an influence on the music, I played on my own much longer. I also tinkered alone much longer during the finishing touches. I don’t know if it was more pleasant. I had more responsibility. I just needed to do this, that’s the feeling I had.” Zone 020
Stef Kamil Carlens: “I have become a fervent follower of the ‘kill your own darlings’- principle” Stage
“Zita Swoon ignores all mannerist expectations from before and the colorful group has put aside its half baked disco-experimentation to undisturbably compose a frivolous bouquet of finely cut love songs. Since Moondog Jr. named itself Zita Swoon, the band captivated me less, but for A Song About a Girls I ruthlessly surrender myself to the hatchet. I suspect I’m not the only one.” JS for P-Magazine
Band:
Stef Kamil Carlens (SKC) (vocals, electric & acoustic guitar, toms & cymbals, wurlitzer, sampling and casiotone), Eva, Kapinga & Leonie Gysel (Radio Candip) (vocals), Tom Pintens (juno 106, acoustic guitar, reason synths, piano, vocals, sampled voices, beatbox, wurlitzer, microkorg), Bjorn Eriksson (electric guitar, dobro, melobar slide guitar), Tomas De Smet (double bass, electric bass, nylon string guitar, percussions, bontempi piano, juno 106), Aarich Jespers (drums and percussions), Kobe Proesmans (percussions)
Additional musicians:
Lol Bee (vocals), Elke Boon (vocals), Neeka (vocals), Axelle Red (vocals), Jeroen Baert (violins, violas), Mirco Banovic (electric bass), Tobe Wouters (tuba, trombone), Hugo Boogaerts (saxophones),
Arrangements:
Zita Swoon, Strings arranged by SKC and Jeroen Baert, Brass Band on 100 arranged by Wim de Wilde
Produced by:
Stef Kamil Carlens
Artwork:
Aarich Jespers and Tom Hautekiet
Photography:
Stephan Vanfleteren, Band photo: Bache Jespers