The Latest Genre Cocktail, Carbonated with Extra Sugar

«Aģentūra» introduces itself with two albums created within a short period of time

The original lineup of the group «Aģentūra» consists of five musicians — Eva Beatrise Auzenberga (saxophone), Raivo Johansons (keyboards), Kurts Kārlis (bass), trumpeter Dominiks Levuškāns, and drummer Roberts Stalidzāns. Interestingly, Kurts Kārlis is not studying music but is enrolled in a dramatic theater acting course, while Raivo Johansons is studying sound engineering at the Academy of Music.

The like-minded group first met in 2023, and their first concert took place very shortly thereafter. The ensemble’s name was devised after a collective exchange of ideas, first reaching a version made from the initial letters of the members’ names. The group came up with «Aģentūra» later.

The musicians themselves admit that, at least for now, their creative work is a cocktail of quite diverse genres, as each member draws on their own sources of inspiration. Among the main influences mentioned are overseas artists such as Kamasi Washington, Frank Zappa, the duo «CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso», composer Steve Reich, as well as the «TinyDesk» episodes produced by NPR (National Public Radio) featuring various performers.

The members of the ensemble have not been afraid to record stylistically very different, even diametrically opposed pieces within a single album, and honestly admit that they are still in search of their identity. The title of the debut album, «Pārslodze» (Overload), describes the busy daily lives of the young people themselves, which means the group often does not manage to meet in its entirety.

One would like to call «Pārslodze» a home jam session recording. The pieces documented on the album are the result of a creative camp where the young people, during a couple of days at a summer cottage, created nearly 40 minutes of music. Both the sound quality and the degree of readiness of the pieces themselves leave their mark on the group’s sound in this recording. The youth deliberately chose not to over-polish the pieces and to record the music in whatever stage of readiness it was at the moment of recording. Although the musicians’ desire not to over-artificialize anything and to record as much material as possible in a relatively short time is understandable and even commendable, it seems that the album’s message and artistic value would not be lost if it were slightly shorter and if the musicians had tucked a few instrumental pieces away for their personal archives.

Listening to both albums released within a year of each other, several stylistic lines and directions emerge in which the musicians have tried to go. The first that comes to mind is theater music, for which we can likely thank one of the group’s founders, Kurts Kārlis. On the album «Pārslodze», three songs are performed in this manner, the sound of which will immediately create for the listener the feeling of a theater performance featuring singing actors and the music of Raimonds Pauls. In the songs «Story of a lone cat» and «Bite me if you are scared», we hear light humor and simple text, not oversaturated with means of expression, but in the lyrical «tu te, man te», we also hear French.

Among the successful instrumental pieces, one can highlight «crazy sandstorm in my house», with oriental-type melodicism in the wind instrument improvisations and atmospheric drum reverberation, as well as «trauksme kobrai 11», which could genuinely be a soundtrack for an episode of the famous series. References to pop culture and various types of quotes could also be called a characteristic feature of «Aģentūra’s» music — on the album «Pārpratums» (Misunderstanding), you will hear various fragments and samples, for example, from the famous computer game «GTA» (the title of the piece will also indicate this).

The young people also use folk song quotes in their creative work. The most attentive listeners will recognize various melodies — both «Pūt vējiņi», as well as «Jūriņ prasa smalku tīklu» and «Auga, auga rūžeņa». A peculiar juxtaposition of genres is revealed in the piece «Song of a tall man», where a snare drum rhythm (something between a military march and a bolero) is periodically replaced by an expressive melody in A minor.

It is a pleasure to see the ensemble’s development over a relatively short period of time. In the more recently released album «Pārpratums», the quality bar has been raised significantly higher, and the ears are pleased not only by the studio recording and sound but also by more detailed compositions and a much more stable musical performance. Here, keyboardist Tomijs Endzelis joins the quintet, as well as vocalists Agate Grīnhofa and Gundega Grūtupa. In the pieces «Grand Theft Opera» and «gāzēts & daudz cukura», we hear a new facet of «Aģentūra’s» sound, in which academic (opera-characteristic) vocals emerge, but reflections of theater music do not disappear in the song «sapņu ķērāja dienasgrāmata». We get a dose of humor and irony in the piece «Jazz school dropouts», in which young people likely shout out their personal experiences, pain, and dissatisfaction with what is happening in music education institutions, while the song «ieslēgšu tevi!!!» charms listeners with colorful harmonies.

Pieces with electronic music aesthetics — «tev patīk paklusēt!» and «ilgi! pārāk ilgi!» — as well as short interludes titled «ambient anxiety from a room» have turned out quite successfully. Compared to the previous album, the instrumental pieces are also significantly higher quality. The rhythmic «check engine: no engine» and «static fruit theory», as well as the misty-psychedelic «too loud to whisper», attract attention.

Observing the ensemble’s performance to date, «Aģentūra’s» ability to maintain a fast pace of development and make bold artistic decisions is worth noting — expanding the membership, continuing to search for their sound, maintaining a playfully experimental creative spirit, and holding within themselves the awareness that one should not give up if something does not turn out perfectly the first time. Comparing both albums and seeing the path of development taken, it does not seem at all that «Pārslodze» and «Pārpratums» are separated by such a small time gap — less than a year. The group members are purposefully building not only their musical but also their visual identity. It is evident that young people also pay attention to the details surrounding the music — the album design in the digital environment and their stage image.