Jack Agdur is a Swedish composer who creates music in a unique way. He does not just write music but works with silence and time to express emotion through sound. His new album, Nineteenth Cycle, continues his work with minimalist music that explores how people experience and understand music. Agdur is known for writing delicate piano pieces and calm, meditative soundscapes. His style focuses on simplicity, but his music has deep emotional meaning even though it is not loud or dramatic.
Nineteenth Cycle feels like watching a slow sunrise. Each note in the album develops carefully and intentionally. Songs like We Rose Together and Between Currents flow like water, with a reflective quality and quiet beauty. As One Wing Turns and Light Carries Us explore change and renewal. Agdur recorded the album on a Georg Bolin upright piano, which gives it an intimate and personal sound. This choice reflects his interest in connecting with listeners and understanding himself better.
For Agdur, Nineteenth Cycle is more than just an album. It is a reflection on time, emotion, and where we belong. Each piece of music feels alive and captures a moment in time while making it feel eternal. Through Nineteenth Cycle, Jack Agdur shows us that quietness can be powerful. He reminds us that the most meaningful music often comes not from what we hear, but from what we feel in the spaces between the notes.
Listen to Nineteenth cycle
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What personal experiences influenced the themes in Nineteenth Cycle?
I was inspired by certain moods that I have felt during the last 20 years. Some of these moods are difficult to describe with words. I think my music sometimes may reflect complex emotions.
How does the album reflect your growth as an artist and individual?
It’s the nineteenth part of a series called ”Cycles”. In my new album you could perhaps feel my own voice as a composer a bit stronger. I have come to more insights as an individual. I also think that my self confidence as an artist has grown thanks to these insights.
Can you describe any particular moments during production that were especially meaningful?
I remember sitting down at the piano trying to capture different emotional currents. I am a bit unpatient when i compose, if I cant express what Im after directly I tend to get a bit tired. Its very important to me with a very streamlined workflow.
How did you balance emotional expression with technical aspects in the songwriting and production?
I have always been thinking that the technical aspects of a composition is there directly when I record the music. I always start over again with a composition if I feel that the piece is unfinished when it comes to technical aspects.
Were there any unique instruments or techniques used to shape the sound of this album?
I recorded We rose together and Between currents on a Georg Bolin upright piano. I wanted a bit more intimate sound acoustically and felt an immediate emotional connection with the instrument.
How do the lyrics on Nineteenth Cycle connect to your own life journey?
The song titles parallell my journey as a composer when it comes to self reliance. I asked myself what exactly it is that I have been composing since 2013. What is this musics character and soul. Through the titles I attempt to capture some of the musics essence.
Can you share a story behind one of your favorite tracks on the album?
In Between currents I had an idea of creating something with a restless energy. I wanted it to be true to the undercurrents of the mind when it comes to distractions and how one mood shifts to another. It takes place unplanned I wanted the piece to show how a shift is not calculated but shifts as a part of a natural process.
What challenges did you face during the creation of Nineteenth Cycle, and how did you overcome them?
I did many retakes as I sometimes felt that i hadnt been able to capture the true intuitive flow of the music. I wanted the music to breathe naturally and feel very direct and not as a calculative process.
What emotions or messages do you want listeners to feel when they hear this album?
I want the listener to sense a feeling of belonging when they are listening to my music.
How do you envision performing these songs live, and will the live experience differ from the recorded versions?
Some of my pieces exist just in the moment they were created. When I record my music I want to capture a feeling of the precise moment when the music is created. Im more of a composer than a performing artist.
