Hybrid' is a word that has always been vital to CEEYS' vocabulary, but its application is not limited to the manner in which cellist Sebastian Selke and his brother, pianist Daniel Selke, combine their two instruments so harmoniously. Instead, like the duo's very name – which merges the words 'VIOLONCELLE' (fr.: cello) and 'KEYS' – it is reflective of their overall aesthetic, one in which they integrate the many ingredients that have helped shape them as both musicians and people. CS' idiosyncratic style is characterised by a rather reduced approach to composition and improvisation. In exploiting their knowledge of songwriting, textures and repetitive patterns, they create an experimental but accessible minimalism between avant-garde and pop that incorporates elements of jazz, ambient and classical chamber music. A product as much of the music with which they grew up as of that which now surrounds them, and as much indebted to their childhood environment as to that in which they now live, Concrete Fields is the first part of a planned trilogy and – certainly not by accident – it was released in the very year that marked the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution of 1917. Through this conscious process of coming to terms with the prefab estate in which they were raised – Europe's largest, located in the district of Marzahn-Hellersdorf – the brothers create music that at times feels familiar, but which remains refreshingly, invigoratingly unique, thereby mirroring the myriad sounds to which they have been exposed throughout their lives. Currently, CS are presenting their third album W?NDE at the Berlin label Neue Meister. Here, they focus on the remembrance of 1989, a year which brought many changes.
