Tercet Imperial - Prymat LP

This is an album at the interregnum. It concludes a period in history in which Polish music was dominated by groups that, in various ways, polonized Anglo-Saxon sounds. Tercet Imperial heralds a new era. It proposes the primacy of local, our own themes, and sees its source of strength in the rural traditions of the Polish heartland, in the life-giving folklore of the inhabitants of the fields, forests, and hamlets near Radom. And it challenges the idea of enclosing this element in a museum exhibition. It decouples the concept that archaic music requires instruments from the past.

The voice of Tercet Imperial is given by Joanna Sztucka, who has been gathering experience with traditional music since childhood: first in one of Wrocław's folk groups, then on the dance floors and during numerous field trips, and finally alongside a living legend of Radom music, the singer Maria Siwiec from Gałki Rusinowskie. It remains true to the old adage that folk dance music is a bachelor and maiden thing – a young man's own story. He treats songs about fortune and misfortune, longing and fulfillment with a light and airy touch, while meticulously reproducing overheard mannerisms and Gałecki dialect.

Jan Emil Młynarski serves us with the polyrhythmic fire of electrified percussion – with erudition honed on trips to the interior, he paraphrases the most original rural rhythmic solutions, constantly expanding his field of inspiration. From Brooklyn, through Luanda and Marrakesh, to Brogowa – he conducts percussive deterrence on his LM2, revealing the metric depth of seemingly simple, swirling dances. He fell in love with this music in 2011, observing the work of barabanist Józef Kędzierski, and remains captivated by the oberkas to this day.

Piotr Zabrodzki is responsible for the synthesizer sounds and timbres. With his dreamlike staccato, he can unleash a whole repository of associations in the listener's mind – with places, spaces, and people. He evokes old folk motifs, often bringing new variations to them, synthesizing his jazz sensibility with numerous guest appearances alongside various rural musicians, including Piotr Bińkowski. His keyboards asymmetrically escalate and de-escalate the musical tension, sometimes bringing counterpoint, more often – psychedelic rapture. He emphasizes that performing folk music on such instruments has been quite common among Southern Slavs for at least two generations. So why is it considered exotic for Western Slavs? As Tercet Imperial demonstrates, the problem lies not in the mythical "archaic" nature of this music, but in the mainstream's lack of attention to what is familiar.

Stay with this album until the end to hear an extraordinary rendition of the story of the holy image from Studzianna. Inspired by the light, the band began their own pilgrimage with a bang, winning the Grand Prix at the Folk Music Competition of the Polish Radio Festival "New Tradition" 2025. This is the sound of the new, Warsaw-based, white-and-red wave. Music for times of geopolitical balancing. Ancient three-dimensional dance forms – mazurkas, continuous mazurkas, oberkas, mazurkas – played on electrified drums and synthesizers, sung "in white," possess ritual and world-creating power. They are powerful means of sonic assault. Why do we need an atomic bomb when we have such art at home? We can only hope that, having emerged from the realm of folklore, Tercet Imperial will transcend the chokepoint of the principality of folk and alternative, enter the empire of the mainstream, establish primacy, and build their own musical empire.

Mateusz Dobrowolski