Kristóf Hajós is a queer singer-songwriter from Hungary who escaped to Amsterdam in 2018, drawn by the Dutch capital’s cosmopolitan cultural and political scene. He first came to prominence in 2006 with the slowcore pop and chamber ballad band The Unbending Trees, playing to crowds of up to 12,000 in renowned venues such as New York’s Carnegie Hall. The Guardian described the Trees’ sound as “mournful but often majestic … saved from gloom by some darkly comic touches.”
Kristóf discovered how introspective music can create a strong, intimate bond with the audience, using simple staging and pared-down acoustics bringing out the hidden messages in his songs. In 2020 he launched a solo career with a number of singles leading up to the release of an album, “Good Morning, Nothingness”, in November 2022, comprising 10 sparse and reflective pop songs, some of which featured on BBC 6Music. He describes the album as a work of reconciliation with the past and embracing a new life, turning away from trauma and looking at the future.
As a solo artist he has continued to prioritise intimacy and simplicity, sharing his stock of personal experience with the listener in his four albums to date. At the same time he peppers the heavy subject matter with light-hearted observations, at times verging on stand-up, during his live performances.
For his latest project he has teamed up with The Bitterfly Collective, a band whose members have made their home in the Netherlands: Hungarian-Dutch guitarist Sándor Szanyi, Jack Kenney from the UK on bass, Dmytro Romantsov from Ukraine on keyboard and Syrian Modar Salama on percussion. Following a sellout debut performance in De Roode Bioscoop in Amsterdam, the group worked on a new album, Geography, featuring nine songs on the theme of seeking identity, losing and rediscovering roots as well as the Netherlands’ relationship with its “expats”.
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The World of Dust is the solo project of musician and collage artist Stefan
Breuer, based in Bilthoven. The World of Dust offers a refuge of
serenity in sound and images, to escape this complex and demanding
world. In his dreamy universe of experimental folk songs and DIY collage
art you will find your thoughts calming down.
The
World of Dust has shared the stage with like minded artists such as
Karl Blau, Calvin Johnson, I am Oak and Matthew Caws (Nada Surf), and
toured extensively since 2014, performing in The Netherlands, France,
Belgium, Germany and Japan.
His new art publication The Inversion
is filled with collages that will also be on display in De Roode
Bioscoop. In his new work, The World of Dust further explores his usual
mindful, surreal universe of playful imagery. Vivid colors, nature,
animals, humor and spirituality go hand in hand in his beautiful work.
Also on display will be the originals to Kristóf Hajós cover art for the
singles Renegades/There Are No Mountains and Imaginary World.