Stef Kamil Carlens & The Poem

Born in Antwerp, Stef Kamil Carlens made his name on the Belgian scene in the 1990s as co-founder of dEUS, before moving onto a more personal path with Moondog Jr., later Zita Swoon, and eventually recording under his own name. With Stef Kamil Carlens & The Poem he tightens his songwriting into a trio format shared with Nel Ponsaers and Rahmat Emonds, both on keyboards and vocals; Emonds also adds violin, mandolin or percussion depending on the track. The project favors a pared-back approach where folk, chamber pop, blues and acoustic soul intersect in songs centered on the lyrics, vocal harmonies and restrained grooves. Carlens reworks part of his repertoire and presents new compositions within a framework that gives equal space to the three voices and allows shifting points of view from song to song. Nel Ponsaers and Rahmat Emonds also accompany Carlens in The Swoon, a larger formation with which he released the album Be(e) Who You Wanna Be(e) in 2024. In Stef Kamil Carlens & The Poem this rapport is expressed through tight, collective playing, minimalist in means and attentive to the material of the songs.