You're reading: Vakarchuk presents his new solo project Vnochi

Claude Monet, “Impression,” “Sunrise.”

Vyacheslav Vakarchuk, impression, “Vnochi ” (At Night).

The French painter and the Ukrainian musician may be worlds apart, but their focus on the mood before a story cannot escape comparison. The painter traveled to Paris to visit the Louvre in his early 20s. Witnessing other artists copying from the old masters, he would instead go and sit by a window and paint what he saw. The musician studying physics in Lviv formed a rock band to fill his own lyrical gap. Seeing other Ukrainian artists repeat the same pop tunes, he would instead cry his heart out in rock.

Years ago, Monet painted the “Sunrise,” suggesting the French harbor Le Havre, which later defined the Impressionist movement. Like his precursor in visual arts, Vakarchuk suggested New York in his new song “At Night,” astonished by its flaring lights from the 40th floor of his hotel.

Breaking from his iconic rock, he weaved together jazz, folk, indie and reggae among other forms to tell an impression before anything else. He presented the new project under the eponymous name on Nov. 4 to a large circle of friends.

With this wild combination, Vakarchuk leaped beyond the expected yet again. His rock band Okean Elzy, from Lviv, has been invading the Ukrainian music scene since the early 90’s.

“Sharing one-bedroom flats somewhere on the outskirts of Kyiv back then, we cared more about what we would play tomorrow than, say, food,” remembered Vakarchuk. His rock sprouts acclimatized well and soon paid off. They quickly became A-list performers in Ukraine.

Tickets for their concerts sell out fast – be it in Kyiv, Moscow, New York or London. Vakarchuk’s charismatic raspy voice has reached as high as “take-off music” on many international flights from Kyiv.

Continuously redefining himself, he soon changed the padding of his usual soulful love melodies. In 2004, he cheered the freezing crowds with patriotic songs at Independence Square during the Orange Revolution, a peaceful political revolt. Since then, the rock star has waded deep into the troubles of Ukrainian society in his lyrics. His 2007 album, “Mira,” had a strong political connotation. In a later song, “The Cheerful Times Have Come, My Brother,” he sang about Ukrainians being fooled by their leaders.

Last October, he disconnected himself even further from a wider audience by joining parliament.

It took him a year to understand that “in Ukrainian politics, there are no goals and no ideals.”

Shortly after his resignation, Vakarchuk got into a perfect storm of music and cbegan composing in a different light. “This is the first successful effect of the Ukrainian political crisis,” joked a sponsor, Roman Shpek from Alfa Bank. The rock singer found a group of artists “who could play without music and wanted to experiment.”

On the stage of the Ivan Franko National Theater, instead of the usual Palats Sportu, they presented “At Night.” In front of a white clear chiffon drape, more than 20 musicians toyed skillfully with folk, rock, piano jazz and symphonic violins. They would spin away with a foxtrot at the start, then Irish-like folk and then surprise with a romantic flute at the end.

The audience reveled in the creative experiment, bursting with applause after each of the presented 11 songs. Although none of them correspond to the pop format, Vakarchuk intends them for a wider audience. “This is not avant-garde music, these are songs. “At Night” is not only for Okean Elzy fans but even for those who are not interested in rock-n-roll,” said the lead singer.

Most of the songs he composed at night, hence the name of the album. “Sometimes I can’t fall asleep. At times, because I am happy, but mostly because I am sad. This is when I write,” he explained, referring to the irrational component of his artistry. Indeed, the weeping “I-want-to-be-with-you” central theme came back to his lyrics.

“The One Like You” he wrote in a cafe in Switzerland where writer Volodymyr Nabokov used to spend a lot of time during the last years of his life. “When you have someone you love more than anyone in this life, the distance makes no difference,” he said, introducing the song, at which he later cried.

Vakarchuk’s personal side of life has always been covered in mystery, pain and anxiety. “Wherever you are” he composed in English on one of his foreign tours. A detectable accent explained why he did not do so earlier. His deep vocals, however, soon won over the shortcomings.

“At Night” is a very intimate and frank album for people who can think about and doubt what they do,” said Roman Balayan, famous Ukrainian producer, about the project. “There are songs in this album which make you gasp for air and leave your skin in goose bumps,” said writer Lubko Deresh. “I am sure they can create a certain cultural context for future work at the same level.”

Since it is an experiment, Vakarchuk said that he is not going to advertise his new project aggressively. That explains why the concert was by invitation only. The album is expected to be on sale at the end of November.