Širom, Café Oto, London, Mar 10

The group Širom, from Slovenia, are Samo Kutin, Iztok Koren and Ana Kravanja and they are surrounded by over 20 instruments laid out on a carpet in Café Oto’s intimate bar and performance space. Their first track is driven by powerful percussive grooves and gutsy playing on hurdy gurdy, plucked gimbri and daf drum. There’s a trance-like intensity to the music, the rhythms repeating and repeating. The track is titled ‘Wilted Superstition Engaged in Copulation’, although I find it hard to identify any of that in the music.

Širom have a plethora of instruments, and create an ever-evolving soundscape, with drums, singing bowls and bamboo tubes always fascinating to watch. I get fascinated by Ana Kravanja singing while playing her violin with a wooden stick. The band are strong on rhythmic grooves and instrumental textures, but some more memorable melodies would be useful in the mix. They talk about the various landscapes of Slovenia being an inspiration, but it’s hard to hear this. Their final piece, ‘Prods the Fire with a Bone, Rolls over with a Snake’ features vocals from Kravanja over chimes and plucked strings. It’s a long crescendo that for all its textures needs more melodic content. Without that ingredient, Širom will stay a fascinating and intriguing curiosity.

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For a taste of seeing Širom live we thoroughly recommend their Rural Underground short film, filmed in 2021 when the band toured Slovenia's countryside following the removal of COVID-19 restrictions