The release of WHAT SHOULD I SAY, by Elysian Fields, Australia’s only electric viola da gamba band, heralds the creation of a new and unique musical voice.

Elysian Fields is the brainchild of viola da gambist, Jenny Eriksson, and leading jazz musicians, Matt Keegan, saxophones, and Matt McMahon, piano.

The album takes its name from the central piece, a remarkable new song cycle by pianist and band member, Matt McMahon,
which sets four poems by Thomas Wyatt – courtier and lyric 16th century poet at the court of King Henry VIII – reputed lover of Queen Anne Boleyn, to music. Also featured is ‘Elysium’, an epic work by Matt Keegan and an original chart by bassist, Siebe Pogson.

Operating as a sextet with a unique combination – voice/violin, sax, electric viola da gamba, piano, bass and drums – Elysian Fields creates a sound world which defies categorisation.

Jenny Eriksson is one of Australia’s leading acoustic viola da gamba players – the viola da gamba being a very old 7-string instrument with frets about the same size as a modern-day cello – and the only exponent of the electric version of her instrument. Since its inception in 2015 the band has been an ongoing experiment in creating new repertoire for a combination of instruments and voice that does not exist anywhere else in the world.

WHAT SHOULD I SAY, from  Elysian Fields is distributed by MOVE Records in Melbourne and is available now on CD from the website as well as in download form via Bandcamp, Spotify, CD Baby and iTunes. The official launch will take place March 1, 2019 at Foundry616 in Sydney.

For everything Elysian Fields check out their website and their social media at Facebook, YouTube, Soundcloud or Instagram.