ZEA & DRUMBAND HALLELUJAH MAKKUM ‘in lichem fol beloften’ LP

Description

– now here, includes a book! –

On November 7, the new Frisian-language album In lichem fol beloften by Zea, aka Arnold de Boer, will be released. On this record, his poetic, minimal songs are given an enchanting, rhythmic foundation by the sixteen-member Drumband Hallelujah Makkum. With this work, Arnold de Boer shows how powerful and headstrong language can be — not only through his own compositions but also through Frisian translations of poems by, among others, Dutch poet M. Vasalis and the German poet Nelly Sachs.

Zea Expands
The new Frisian album by Zea bursts with creativity. And this time, that creativity doesn’t come from Arnold de Boer alone; Zea expands into a four-piece band, and on half the album, drumband Hallelujah Makkum joins in. Zea began his musical career in that same drumband at the age of seven. Arnold’s father, Feddie de Boer (81 years old), still plays in the band — and therefore also appears on the album. Hallelujah Makkum has been a local institution for 125 years, well known even in distant regions.
In lichem fol beloften was recorded over three days in February 2025 in the Thomaskerk, a small curch in Ketlik, a Frisian village. Everything was recorded live to make full use of the church’s beautiful spatial acoustics. The recording of Drumband Hallelujah Makkum took place on May 31, 2025, in the Doopsgezinde (Mennonite) Church in Makkum. De Boer invites the listener to settle into the cadence of drums and strings, takes us into the minimalist trance of guitar, cello, clarinet, and drums, and plays with time and physicality.

Powerful and Headstrong Language
In De Boer’s world — in Zea-land — everything is connected: events, places, music, language, text, and image come together in a magical way. The LP/CD is released alongside a book filled with song lyrics, stories, drawings, photos, and translations. De Boer’s Frisian lyrics are poetic; the accompanying drawings and photographs often provide a beautiful counterpoint, while the stories take on a life of their own along the edges of the lyrics and music. The translations demonstrate how powerful and headstrong a language can be, in all its uniqueness and meaning.

His Frisian translation of the poem De dood (“Death”) by M. Vasalis, set to music, sounds like a chess match between the poet and the Grim Reaper. De Boer’s own lyrics echo this tone — from a song like Pine en tiid (“Pain and Time”), through De tút yn de betonnen wolken (“The Kiss in the Concrete Clouds”), to Wer in dei tenein (“Another Day Gone”). The poem Kommt einer von ferne by the German poet Nelly Sachs becomes, in translation, a song about how we deal with strangers. In the title track In lichem fol beloften (“A Body Full of Promises”), poet Tsead Bruinja joins in a narrative about our transformation into physical form, shaped like a collectively dreamed history.

Listen: https://zeamusic.bandcamp.com/album/in-lichem-fol-beloften

Released on makkum 4. November 2025

guitar, vocals: Arnold de Boer
clarinet: Xavier Charles
chello: Harald Austbø
drums: Ineke Duivenvoorde

featuring Drumband Hallelujah Makkum
featuring poet Tsead Bruinja