Altın Gün has released the single “Neredesin Sen”, a motorik-leaning reinterpretation of a Turkish folk standard. The track will appear on Garip, the Dutch group’s sixth album, due February 20 via ATO Records.
Garip translates to “strange” in English and is envisioned as a tribute to Neşet Ertaş, a major figure in Anatolian music associated with the aşık folk tradition. Ertaş was a singer, lyricist, and baglama virtuoso whose catalog includes more than 30 albums and hundreds of songs, including titles later recorded by artists such as Barış Manço and Selda Bağcan.
The album reworks 10 Ertaş compositions with new arrangements that include Arabesque-inspired strings, saxophone, and synthesizers, while retaining Altın Gün’s rock-forward approach. The band also collaborated with the Stockholm Studio Orchestra on select tracks, bringing orchestral elements to arrangements influenced by Egyptian popular music, Turkish Arabesque, and mid-century French and Italian pop.
Vocalist, keyboardist, and bağlama player Erdinç Eçevit said the project connects directly to his background. “Both of my parents are from Turkey, from the same area he is from,” he said. He recalled hearing Ertaş cassette tapes as a child, adding that he later engaged more deeply with the lyrics: “stories about what he’s facing in life. The Turkish traditional music is the blues of the Turkish people.”
Author: World Music Central News Room
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