ŽEN - "Jantar" 12-inch Vinyl/CD/MP3 Music by Žen Lyrics by Eva Badanjak (except track 08 lyrics by Žen) Artwork and cover design: Eva Badanjak Release-Date: 01/10/2015 In cooperation with Vox Project UNREC10_VOX 20

ŽEN - Žal Cover: Listen to all songs on bandcamp...

"Das neue Album der Zagreber drei-Musikerinnen-eine-VJ-Kombo erschien wie schon das erste I onda je sve počelo beim queerfeministischen Label unrecords. The beauty of mathematics wäre eine Formel, das Glück beim Hören für alle jene zu beschreiben, für die Mathematik ebenfalls nicht mühsames Rechnen sondern Dekonstruktion von Gewissheiten und Eröffnung von Denkmöglichkeiten bedeutet. Anyway: reduziert-exakte Gitarre-Schlagzeug-Dialoge wechseln über in sphärische massive mehrstimmige multiinstrumentale Ensembles, die sich asymptotisch an so etwas Arges wie Singularitäten annähern und zum Aus- und Aufbruch drängen. Das klingt jetzt aber pathetisch!? Egal. Super poetisch-konzeptuelle Texte außerdem. Hört! Und kauft! Für euch, für andere, für alle!" (r_win, malmoe 73, 12/2015)

"…a surprise that will pin you down to the speakers while listening to the whole album—those wonderful guitar arrangements combined with perfectly blended vocals (...) are closer to Iceland’s Sigur Ros than to the regional rock scene." "They have the groove, attitude, a unique expression, and they should be applauded for that."
(Dubravko Jagatic, tportal.hr, 10/2015) [Read full review in Croatian]

"Die Platte hat mich gleich gehabt: In meinen frühen Zwanzigern hab ich mich einmal in melodiöse Gitarrenriffs und rhythmisch-treibendes Schlagzeugspiel verliebt, Frauen- stimmen jeglicher Art mochte ich schon früher, gelernt von Beth Gibbons und PJ Harvey. Da es mehr nicht braucht (ein schönes Coverartwork schadet aber nie), haben es die Damen von Žen dabei auch im Wesentlichen belassen. Und mit diesem sich von der ersten zur zweiten Platte konsequent weiterentwickelnden Konzept ein wunderbares Stück Musik geschaffen, das daheim auf der Stereoanlage schon fein klingt, live aber nicht zuletzt aufgrund der Visuals sicher noch einmal einen drauf setzt. So oder anders, hört euch das an, diese Rillen wollt ihr unbedingt im Ohr haben!"
(Florian Walter, kv waschaecht / Take Over, 10/2015)

"They create the most contemporary progressive indie-rock, submerged in influences ranging from shoegaze to psychedelia, noise and math-rock"
(Vladimir Horvat, terapija.net, 09/2015) [Read full review in Croatian]

"…a trip to the Bandcamp page and listening to ‘I onda je sve pocelo’ was inevitable. And once I was there, there was no going back (...) this album is adorned with relentlessness by which Žen ride through their vision of post-rock."
(Emir Fulurija, potlista.com, 08/2015) [Read full review in Croatian]

"The live performance (...) of these awesome girls left a great impression. Their post-punk/post-rock sound and coherent material, unveiled the hidden face of a different and better Croatian scene, outside of the mass media and autistic radios."
(Zlatko Gall, Slobodna Dalmacija)

ŽEN /xZEN/ (Croatia)
/audio vizual shoegaze post rock/

Formed in Zagreb, in 2009, the four-piece audio-visual band Žen combines intricate arrangments and immersive live visuals to create a fully authentic psy indie rock experience.

Žen playfully dissects gender stereotypes and connects the boundaries of audio and visual art, evoking journeys through vocal harmonization submerged in a progressive symbiosis of guitar, bass, drums and synths. If we were to try to define them by genre, the closest we would get is a complex form of indie-rock, informed by various style and genre characteristics ranging from post-rock to shoegaze, math-rock, vintage synthwave and experimental electronics. Their debut album, I onda je sve pocelo, was released in May 2013 under the queer feminist label Unrecords from Vienna, A. Žen was also included in several compilations: Bistro na rubu šume vol.2, Kompot berba 2013 and !OPASNA! Ženska Muzika, while the Balkan under the radar vol.2: The Black Wave compilation, contained a remix of the song Iskrenost je posebna (Andrea Giordani remix).

Early August this year, they announced new album Jantar with a single Kraj Pocetak. Album has been released on August 30th under the Unrecords label.

Žen has played numerous concerts and gained a loyal audience in the wider region. They’ve played in Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, France, Italy, Denmark and Sweden.

"Post-rock and experimental movements took the audience to another dimension, engulfing all of their senses." (Soundguardian.com)


Links:
www.xzen.xyz
http://unrecords.me/zen/
facebook.com/xzenxzen
xzen.bandcamp.com

https://www.youtube.com/user/zivzarzur