The latest work from the classical and folk-centered Walden, Sehnsucht carries listeners deep into the Bavarian forest with dancing melodies and an exploratory spirit.
Released Aug. 30, this new recording is a collection of traditional nylon-string classical guitar compositions topped with the occasional flourish from a synthesizer and electric guitar.
This latest work, an extended play, continues a more than decade-long musical thesis from Danijel Zambo, crafting a soundtrack inspired by the natural world that surrounds them.
Zambo resides in the southern German city of Augsburg, where the massive protected urban forest and nature reserve Stadtwald Augsburg is currently celebrating its 100th anniversary.
Stadtwald Augsburg includes more than 2,000 hectares of protected land and forest.
Located within the city, the site is celebrated as one of the oldest, largest and most biodiverse natural reserves in southern Germany and includes waterways recognized as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Just outside of Augsburg lies the Naturpark Augsburg-Westliche Wälder, a vast nature park of more than 1,000 square kilometers comprising rolling hills, forests and small villages.
This lush and well-protected landscape offers a glimpse of the natural inspiration behind Sehnsucht and Zambo’s wider body of work.
This particular recording is grounded in a quiet melancholy found in moments of dissonance in each of the project’s nine compositions.
With the end of summer fast approaching and the colder winds of winter beginning to take hold, these compositions could not be arriving at a more appropriate time.
For those in different climates and seasons, the compositions are enough to inspire an emotional response that reflects the cold winter calm that enthralls a landscape.
“These are some tunes to slow down a bit and let the thoughts flow …” Zambo stated.
With a rather brisk runtime, this journey into the rich German forest is more of a walk than a hike.
The artist would likely refer to it as a Spaziergang, a leisurely stroll, in German.
Although adorned with many flourishes and musical abundance, the recording holds tight to a thematic minimalism.
For much of the album, Zambo chose to record using a guitar with a missing string, the D string, to be precise.
“Limitations don’t have to get in the way of your creativity,” Zambo shared.
This missing middle string creates a wider space between the highest and lowest notes of each composition and offers a sonic metaphor for a landscape transforming from the busy autumn to a quiet winter.
It is a poignant decision for an album whose title directly translates to the German word for longing.
The choice is further illustrated by the album’s visual design, a pictorial photograph of a forest at the height of autumn, with trees illuminated in bright golden sunlight, resting in a radiant mist.
It is a scene that elevates the artist’s ties to mysticism and reverence for the spiritual power of natural spaces.
Although most listeners have no connection to the Bavarian forests that inspire this musician, this deep appreciation for the natural world is contagious and encourages each listener to embrace the natural spaces that surround them. And Zambo should be celebrated for reminding us all to do so.
