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Širom

Nov 20, 2025 By Irina Shtreis Photography by Irina Shtreis Web Exclusive

On the stage of East London’s multidisciplinary boutique venue Rich Mix, Samo Kutin, a founding member of Slovenian avant-folk trio Širom, talks about “very strange times we live in”. “Each of us can do something for living with other species on this planet in a nicer way,” he says to the cheers from the enchanted London audience.

While not expressed directly, the sentiment finds its way in music. Clocking in at nearly nineteen minutes, “The Hangman’s Shadow Fifteen Years On” starts with mournful strings, giving way to shamanic percussion, a propelling riff on a customised bass harp, and a passionate outcry of vocals.

This and other compositions of their set come from the new album, In the Wind of Night, Hard-Fallen Incantations Whisper. Its intense and crepuscular sound, at times bordering on menacing, marks a new direction for Širom, whose previous critically acclaimed The Liquified Throne of Simplicity, mainly deals with the phantasmagorical side of their world.

The trio comprise multi-instrumentalists Ana Kravanja, Iztok Koren and Samo Kutin. All instruments beside them or in their hands are either designed by the band or come from distant places such as Iran and North Africa (rebab). Some have a fascinating story of origin. One of the lyres they play is made from the wood found in a pond in the Slovenian village Čadrg, where Kutin grew up. “It turned out that it’s a fir tree that grew 6500 years ago. The resonating board is from this wood, so it’s quite special for me to play it”.

With barely any electro-acoustic instruments on stage (apart from the harmonium), the band creates a dense sound. Though rooted in a folk tradition, the inventive nature of their music suggests openness to anything from krautrock to techno. Here, Amon Düül II meets Autechre, and there is no single guitar, keyboard and laptop around.

Whatever sophisticated the set-up might seem, the message that Širom addresses is simple. Rephrasing the quote by Joseph Beuys, every human being is an artist, and any object can be used for artistic expression. Anything can be brought into play – from dog bowls to, as another Širom’s show, witnessed by this author at Northern Winter Beat, proved, buckwheat.

It’s this simplicity and straightforward energy that makes their music irresistible at these, indeed, “very strange times”.