We Want Waan

Saxophonist Bart Wirtz and keyboardist Emiel van Rijthoven are WAAN, a pair of Dutch adventurers who use jazz as a filter to explore a range of sounds from electro-funk and dance music to more avant-garde expressions. The two musicians were friends and musical contemporaries for 13 years before banding together to form their own project. On 2023s Echo Echo, WAAN came off as something of a double threat. They are disciplined jazz instrumentalists with all the requisite improvisational chops, but they also operate like dance producers, building electronic tracks in the studio, then spinning them off in unusual ways. Their follow-up LP, We Want WAAN, is more eclectic, with harder edges, more left turns, and a bit of trenchant wit lurking underneath. The title cut plays almost like a WAAN overture, fusing together signature elements -- an infectious groove, spacy improv passages, deft playing -- in a way that is immediately engaging but tough to pigeonhole. "Talking Trees" feels almost luxurious, a textured mix of dreamy soul balladry threaded with lush solos from Wirtz. Conversely, "Why Didnt You Get Me" leans into WAANs tougher side with a sharp post-punk attack and a rare appearance of vocals from both members. On "Been Blue," they bring in American rapper Ivy Sole for a guest spot, landing somewhere between funky rock, hip-hop, and lucid electro-jazz. Theres a lot of variance on We Want WAAN, but thats the point. They refuse to hang their reputation on a single peg. Instead, they make their diversity work for them, offering just enough cohesion to stick the landing while keeping the listener guessing. ~ Timothy Monger