Thomas Azier in August artist in residence at TivoliVredenburg

Dutch composer, producer, singer and performer Thomas Azier is due in August 2021 artist in residence at TivoliVredenburg. In four days, he will play four different concerts in four different venues.

The talent of Dutch composer, producer, singer and performer Thomas Azier is actually too big for our little chilly country - which is why, from the age of 19, he also bivouacked abroad a lot. That yielded synthpop albums as intriguing as they were varied, such as Hylas (2014) with techno influences in his Berlin period and its warmer-sounding successor Rouge (2017), which he recorded in Paris. After more than 10 years, he has now settled back in the Netherlands. Wherever life takes him, he absorbs influences from his immediate surroundings, then channels them from his own vision into an increasingly specific, unique and personal musical palette.

His previous albums are strokes of paint on a much larger painting; the recently released album Love, Disorderly is an indication of the final size of that work of art. At the first three concerts of this residency (including an open-air concert at Slottuin Zeist), a different facet of this album will take centre stage each time. His last concert of the series is also a first: that's when he will play work from his new vinyl A Collection Of Broken Ideas, two 22-minute singles, for the first time.

Thomas Azier on concerts in corona time: "Giving a concert, in my opinion, is about the coming together, the interaction, the danger. The concert is one of the rare moments when I am fully involved in the present, and I can argue that I make music for the almost religious and meditative feeling that a live experience gives. I am convinced that we should use this time to test alternative 'shared experiences'."

About his concerts at TivoliVredenburg, he adds: "In TivoliVredenburg, a place where I have an awful lot of musical memories, I finally get to present my new work in four different venues. After almost a year and a half without live expression, I am especially looking forward to the physical experience of singing. Looking for a natural but modern live 'feel', I decide to take a leap of faith, and go off-grid with a new group of musicians from different musical backgrounds. The bands will include Simon Segers on drums, Obi Blanche on his DIY guitar 'Rake' and Maarten Hogenhuis on sax."

The four concerts:

• 12 August - Cloud Nine - Love, Disorderly I (with band)
• 13 August - Slottuin Zeist - Love, Disorderly II (open-air concert with festival set and big band)
• 14 August - Pandora - Love, Disorderly 360o (with audience around the band)
• 15 August - Hertz - Release show A Collection Of Broken Ideas