Szymon pounces and takes hold with Tigersapp

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From the opening flutters of acoustic guitar on Golden, discrete, complimentary lines pour over one another to form a mythic arrangement. Reminiscent of enchantment and childhood wonder, there’s something instantly striking about the music of Szymon Borzestowski. His honeyed voice emerges from the woodsy instrumental with the sort of reserved cadence characteristic of Sufjan Stevens, and as the interplaying guitar lines ebb and flow, Szymon’s sweet vulnerability grabs you by the hand, guiding you through this brief, beautiful world he has created. Golden stands in stark contrast to the futuristic art-pop electronica of Katyusha, Szymon’s debut single, but both serve to paint the picture of a wonderfully imaginative mind, expressed through unique compositions and soundscapes.

Szymon Borzestowski remains golden on Tigersapp, as he envelopes one with a smooth and sultry tantalisation of carefully and cleverly crafted electronica.

Szymon Borzestowski tragically passed away in 2012 after a long battle with depression at the age of 23. I didn’t know Szymon when he walked this earth, but through his music I have caught glimpses of the mind of a genuine artisan. This is someone who could, if only briefly, create new realities through his music, offering an alternative to the prescriptive life we’re normally allocated.

Tigersapp is the debut album that Szymon never finished, discarded by Borzestowski during his battle with mental health. Recorded in 2008, and completed in 2014 with the help of his family, Tigersapp is getting the posthumous release that it deserves. With previous singles Golden and Katyusha both demonstrating wholly different but expertly executed genre ventures, Tigersapp might be one of the most significant Australian releases in 2015.

Seven years on from the original recording sessions in Szymon’s bedroom, these tracks sound distinctly ahead of their time, with many on the internet mistakenly (but understandably) thinking they had been recorded only a few months prior to release. These forward-thinking compositions continue to arrest listeners years after their original recording, and further prove the significance of Szymon’s music.

In light of Szymon’s story, listening to his music, such as the song , already stunning in it’s own right, becomes a much denser experience. This fleeting, beautiful track tends to stir up a lot of emotions in me each time I hear it, a warm vulnerability underpinning the folksy arrangement. Conversely, as the playful electronica-meets-Spaghetti-Western Katyusha proves, sometimes Szymon’s music will be here simply to entertain, and that’s okay too.

On this wonderfully eclectic instrumental, Szymon’s compositional cocktail of muffled trumpet, vocal snips, howling synths and theatric percussion mingle together surprisingly well, the result being an engaging, otherworldly piece that’s hard to mimic and even harder to place.

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