Circle Bros

*150 copies limited edition* Circle Bros emerged during the late‑nineties wave of lo‑fi and dronerock, when Morc Records founder Wim Lecluyse first began shaping hazy, guitar‑driven soundscapes. Over the many years that followed, the project gradually started using a richer soundpallete, and shifted toward semi‑improvised, restrained songs that draw as much from minimal‑leaning songwriters as from artists who fearlessly approach the folk traditions. What has never changed is the core approach — fragile melodies, hushed textures, slowly evolving repetitions, and small sonic details that are hard to place.

Circle Bros has never been a particularly prolific project. Full‑length albums are separated by long  stretches of silence — not out of laziness, but because Wim needs time to reflect about new recordings, to rethink them, and to ensure each album differentiates itself from previous releases. Just as with running morc itself: there’s no reason to rush the whole proces, is there? More than 25 years in, that slowly ongoing evolution now culminates in ‘Wade’.

Circle Bros albums tend to flow into one another, and ‘Wade’ is no exception. Work on the record began around the same period as ‘Peaks/waves’, the 10” released on Vrystaete in 2021. While that mini‑album consisted of two long, drifting pieces, Wade returns to shorter song forms — keeping the freer elements of those longer explorations in the sound. So, the influence of 90s/00s lo-fi and post-folk comes through more clearly than on previous albums, both in the structures and in the sound palette. A gentle and focused record — i guess that's something we can all use right now. The lp comes in a two-colour screenprinted sleeve, handproduced by Wim. Yes, there are some slight varieties between the lps. Like life itself.