SOUNDTRACKS - SYNESTHETIC4

Program: BREAD (2025)

Performers: Vincent Pongrácz, vocals, clarinet

Peter Rom, electric guitar

Manu Mayr, electric bass

Andreas Lettner, percussion

 

“Mega Gaga” comments ludwig_w_mueller on YouTube under the music video for Pickedem, the title track of Synesthetic4's debut album. User TheTherapert, in turn, confesses: “I'm confused ... it's kind of good”. The vibe of the Viennese quartet around clarinettist Vincent Pongrácz would be captured quite well - the sound is quirky, humorous and unexpected, incorporating influences from rap, electronic and contemporary music alongside jazz. When Pongrácz puts the clarinet aside, he raps in Dadaist nonsense language that can sound just as much like reggae slang as a rare Dutch dialect. Together with his fellow musicians Peter Rom (guitar), Manu Mayr (electric bass) and Andreas Lettner (drums), he has received prestigious awards from the German Record Critics' Association and the Austrian Jazz Prize. In May 2025, the third studio album Bread was released, which Synesthetic4 presented at Klangspuren in Innsbruck's p.m.k. Even though the sound is in no way inferior to its quirky predecessor albums, the commentary column this time also has a different tone. As iambossa enthuses: “This music video feels like a dream that I want to dive into again and again.”