Taken from the forthcoming album ‘4’ on Apollo and R&S, Boozoo Bajou get better and better with their single ‘Der Kran’. It’s now more than 12 years since the duo of Peter Heider and Florian Seyberth first put out a record, and 16 since their project began – and they have just made what is without question the record of their career, and more than worthy addition to Apollo’s illustrious catalogue to boot. ‘4’ is, very simply, an astounding piece of work: packed with craft, sophistication, intrigue, mystery, seduction and most of all an absolute dedication to the pursuit of out-and-out beauty; it easily transcends basic categories and expectations and stands alone as a shining example of what 21st century music can and should sound like. It takes your breath away.

It’s a transnational high-tech dream of a record, one which can take in everything from Basic Channel dub techno to Brian Eno and John Hasell’s ‘Fourth World’ musical fantasies in just one track (the majestic ‘Hirta’), and which can fly through open skies across icy landscapes (the epic ‘Stufen – Spitzbergen’) or creep through shadows and flickering firelight (the disquieting ‘Tiefdruck – Hochdruck’ with its hints of ritual and derangement).

It brings in a cast of master musicians: the light touch guitar of Frank Zeidler, the soaring violin and viola and flickering mbira thumb piano of Stefan Pötzsch, the flugelhorn of the extraordinary Markus Stockhausen, and the Armenian duduk (think ‘Gladiator’ soundtrack) of Frank Freitag – not to mention the virtuosic synth work of Ricardo Villalobos collaborator and esteemed solo artist Max Loderbauer. Yet for all its breadth and variety it is also a pinpoint-perfect exemplar of the Boozoo Bajou sound which Peter and Florian have honed over the years.

It feels like the stars have aligned on this one. Or, as Peter says: “we waited for the right situation, and we took the occasion, asking Renaat from R&S/Apollo if he would be interested in a release from us. When he said ‘yes’ that was the perfect opportunity and platform to working in this particular musical direction. We had that ambient spirit at the back of our mind for a long long time, and Apollo, with its history, is the place for us to express it.”

“Blues, jazz, dub and all those roots were the spark, as on all our work,” continues Peter, “but we used them more as a basis – an original vibe from which we could find our own handwriting. The influences are all important, because they all interact within themsleves. But where we are now, I would say the sound is far more influenced by our personal current state and necessity of expression than by any individual style or styles.”

Ask him where Boozoo Bajou fit, and you get a perfect explanation of how the duo have managed to escape categorisation. “The term ‘chillout’,” he says vehemently, “is superficial and meaningless; we don’t want to be determined by that. We never felt based in that scene, but we fell right into those ‘golden times’ of chillout-lounge stuff. In the mid nineties there was a big market, with all the cheap track-producers and elevator-sprinkling copycats, like in all musical pop categories. We like laid back music, yes, but we distance ourself from that irrelevance and unkindness towards the musical process! If there is no deep perception, concept and sincerity implied in the music, it just becomes empty easy listening.”

“The opposite is true too, though,” he continues. “Doing abstract-noise soundscapes is easy too, but not a very interesting challenge for our project. We need a strong atmospheric substance in our compositions, and all elements are sorted and developed over time. Listening more to the small, brittle and quiet things, is in our musical world more important than the superficially dramatic style of production, which ultimately takes away all room for time and imagination. But in which category you wanna put us… it’s up to you! We don’t mind – after 16 years we just follow the deep urge for doing new music. It’s about curiosity and the requirement as musicians to go on in musical science – the journey never ends for sure.”

If it’s a journey that can produce an astounding masterpiece like ‘4’, then here’s to it never ending! Check out the first tune to come from the album below – it’ll arrive March 31.