Here is an interesting article about the new album by Jozef Van Wissem and Jim Jarmusch, “Concerning the Entrance into Eternity.”The album features the sounds of a lute and song titles inspired by Emanuel Swedenborg.
Some of the songs that appear on the album were already written by the time of that first October performance, while others took shape soon after, and coalesced amid a swirl of ideas and influences traded between the two musicians. They all bear mystical titles like “The Sun of the Natural World is Pure Fire,” and “He is Hanging by his Shiny Arms, His Heart an Open Wound with Love.”
“The titles of the songs are Swedenborgian mostly,” said van Wissen, referring to the religious movement that developed from the teachings of Swedish scientist, philosopher, and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, who, after a spiritual awakening, claimed he could visit heaven and hell and speak with angels, demons, and other spirits. Van Wissem said that he had been reading a lot of Swedenborg, and took “like a sponge” to the mystic’s language.
“It’s funny,” Jarmusch said, “because he’s like a Swedenborg freak, and I’m a William Blake freak. And he’s a William Blake fan, and I’m a big Swedenborg fan. So we mix our mystics.”
Read the full article to see images and watch a video recording of a performance!