Sdban records presents ‘Between man and machine’, new KAU album explores the beauty of the unpredictable
Release: 10 October 2025

'Unknown Waveforms' is the new album from Belgian trio KAU, out today via Sdban Ultra. Marking an evolution since their 2023 release 'The Cycle Repeats', this new record captures a more personal, immediate, and unfiltered version of the band's sound. In an increasingly digital world, KAU takes a different route, with an album rooted in human connection, live energy, and creative spontaneity. Here, the trio reflect their take on instrumental music, drawing heavily from jazz, hip hop, and electronic influences.

Unknown Waveforms - Album by KAU | Spotify

At the heart of 'Unknown Waveforms' lies the starting point of three musicians in a room, writing and composing music on the spot. For KAU, this idea mirrors their working method: long jam sessions, free-flowing experimentation, and shared moments of inspiration. Songs often take shape slowly, unfolding over hours or days, but always built collaboratively as a trio.

The album's title reflects the mystery behind how music comes together, but is also both literal and symbolic. Unknown waveforms are the sounds that arise when machines and people interact in unpredictable ways. Whether you're an experienced musician or just starting out, the creative process often feels elusive and hard to fully understand. But there are also certain 'moments': creative sparks that can't be planned or programmed. It ends up being more than notes, gear, or structure, it's about the process, the tension and energy that builds when people connect and create in the same room.

The title track, Unknown Waveforms, captures that exact process. It opens with a quote from synth pioneer Wendy Carlos: "I'm just trying to show you how we get some of these sounds," inviting listeners directly into the creative space. The track focuses less on a polished outcome and more on the moment before a song is "finished": it's a portrait of experimentation, feeling, and raw expression.

This commitment to honesty permeates the entire album. KAU kept overdubs to a minimum, avoided excessive editing, and prioritized spontaneous choices over calculated ones. In a time when the future of live, improvised music feels uncertain, they double down on the physical, the real, and the immediate. The album resists the pristine polish of modern production, favoring the warmth and imperfection of analog synthesis. The band embraces the character of their instruments, particularly vintage gear, where subtle flaws add beauty, depth, and personality.

One standout track, cr_eye, is driven by the Moog Subphatty—a key instrument in the band's toolkit for its analog warmth and powerful sub-bass. The track centers around the conversation between bass and drums, allowing the keyboards to recede and create space. It draws emotional threads from earlier KAU tracks like Kampala and Kautokeino, bridging past and present with a shared atmosphere and rhythmic interplay.

Another highlight, Stratford, finds inspiration in London's transport system and the UK jazz scene that has long influenced KAU. A field recording snippet of the Underground kicks off the track, connecting it to the rhythm of everyday commutes. Built around a hypnotic sequencer line from the Roland JX-3P, the track evokes the motion of a metro journey. Artists like Nubya Garcia, Yussef Dayes, and Alfa Mist, giants of the scene that the band has admired for years, resonate subtly throughout. Above all, 'Unknown Waveforms' is a statement of intent: a celebration of imperfection, creative honesty and an insight in the process.

'Unknown Waveforms' is out via Sdban Ultra,

Tracklisting:

1. opening_words
2. morph_303
3. stratford
4. cr_eye
5. unknown_waveforms
6. isle_of_man
7. pray
8. 4U
9. glow
10. no_comply
11. dive
12. dive_deep
13. 2hi2lo
14. ping_pong
15. shuvit
16. heads_up
17. tränenmeer (cr_eye reprise)
    
    KAU
    To fully appreciate KAU's music, you'll need to let go of categories, of expectations, of the need to define. This is music that reconnects with something primal, an instinctive link between body, mind and heart.
    Hailing from Brussels, KAU unites a German keyboardist (Jan Janzen), an Italian bassist (Matteo Genovese), and a Norwegian drummer (André Breidlid). Trained at the conservatory and seasoned by their experiences in a rock band, the trio came together during the pandemic with a shared goal: to create something free and fluid. Their music emerges like a traveling tape, weaving influences and reviving the bold creativity of the cassette format beloved in hip hop.
    But don't be quick to file KAU under new school jazz. Their sound is a distinctive blend merging electronic textures, infectious grooves, and clever beatmaking.
    Following their debut 'The Cycle Repeats' in 2023 and a string of powerful live performances, including a string of standout shows in Belgium's most iconic venues, including Ancienne Belgique in Brussels and De Roma in Antwerp, where they opened for Alfa Mist. Their contagious energy has also left a mark at major festivals such as Dour Festival, Gent Jazz, Jazz à Liège, Jazz:Re:Found and Nuits Botanique, both in Belgium and abroad. KAU continues to define itself as a key force in the evolving Brussels Sound. Their work signals the rise of a new scene that sits confidently at the intersection of hip hop, synth jazz, and club culture.
    
    LIVE
    16 October 2025 – Botanique, Brussels (BE)

17 October 2025 – The Jazz Café, London (UK)

18 October 2025 – The Peer Hat, Manchester (UK)

21 October 2025 – Ninety One Living Room, London (UK)

13 November 2025 – Trix, Antwerp (BE)

4 December 2025 – Club AFF, Hasselt (BE)