Vision of Contentment • Joep Beving & Maarten Vos

The friendly musical duo Joep Beving and Maarten Vos have recorded their first album together, vision of contentment. Released on 19 July 2024, it follows on from a 2019 collaboration in which Vos guested on several tracks on Beving's Henosis. Prague audience will also be able to enjoy the new album live as part of a European tour. On Monday 28 October at the Rudolfinum.

The album vision of contentment was recorded in several locations, including a village near Utrecht, Low Germany, Beving's Amsterdam studio, and Berlin's Funkhaus, where Vos has his studio and where Nils Frahm did the mixing. It was under his label Leiter that the record was released.
The album title vision of contentment may have a paradoxically disturbing impression on some. Vos himself described the haunting sounds that appear on the album as "a soundscape that invites imaginative exploration". In general, then, this musical collaboration has resulted in what the pianist has described as "finding comfort in accepting the inevitable", which resonates with the current state of world society. 
The album is also a personal tribute to producer and friend Mark Brounen.
The mood of the record is also aptly portrayed by the cover art, for which the eponymous painting by Canadian artist Alex Coma was chosen. 
The work comes from the Blue Hour Archetypal Imagery series, which is designed to draw out specific feelings from the viewer's subconscious. 
Specifically, the piece with the pram and heron is a meditation on emotional balance and stability.
The musical links of the album vision of contentment are in the spirit of deep existential thoughts and also minimalism, which can remotely remind of ambient "magician" Brian Eno. Vision of contentment is a cathartic, spiritually awakening album full of love.
With a total running time of nearly three quarters of an hour, vision of contentment contains eight tracks and is available on vinyl and via all digital platforms. The tour in support of the album has a total of twelve stops, starting in September in Berlin and ending before Christmas in Luxembourg.