Spinifex: Undrilling the Hole

The Amsterdam-based sextet Spinifex borrowed their name from a hardy Australian grass known for thriving in harsh conditions. For nearly two decades, they have forged original music from seemingly incompatible elements—mathematical structures, punk aggression, free jazz fire. Their ninth album, Undrilling the Hole, presents seven new compositions from alto saxophonist Tobias Klein that showcase the band's singular musical vocabulary.

Mathematics shapes Klein's compositions, but not in obvious ways. "Nothing fancy," Klein explains. "The basic proportions=-twos and threes, sometimes fives and sevens—create forward motion when you systematically lengthen or shorten musical phrases." Some pieces draw from the Fibonacci series, where each number equals the sum of the previous two, a pattern found throughout nature and used by composers from Bartók to Tool. Others employ specific note groupings—twenty-one notes here, eighty-four there. The band's drummer Philipp Moser brings his background in astrophysics to bear, writing computer code that helps Klein transform one musical pattern into another. But technical frameworks serve raw expression. One layer might offer something immediately graspable while another challenges expectations. Klein notes that combining these elements produces surprising results: "Two different layers might both feel natural but create something abstract when they meet."

The material took shape during an intense tour through Eastern Europe in December 2023. Before heading to Ukraine, Klein questioned the wisdom of performing in a war zone. "I had a hard time imagining what we could offer people who have serious things on their minds, like losing family members and finding shelter when sirens go off," he reflects. Those concerns dissolved when audiences embraced the music with unexpected warmth and enthusiasm.

Each piece on Undrilling the Hole opens new musical territory. "Boiling Up Beautifully," despite being the album's most accessible composition, took half the tour to find its proper shape. On "Tatiana," Klein borrowed a riff from Tropical Fuck Storm's "You Let My Tyres Down," adapting it to fit the piece's 7/4 time signature. "The riff sneaks into their song after five minutes," Klein notes. "It fits, but it's weird. When I wrote 'Tatiana,' it appeared naturally as an answer to John Dikeman's tenor solo." The title track emerged during the tour itself, as the band confronted the paradox of performing complex, demanding music in Ukraine amid air raid sirens and the daily realities of war.

The current sextet lineup amplifies these musical possibilities. Trumpeter Bart Maris and tenor saxophonist John Dikeman bring deep connections to the free jazz tradition. Guitarist Jasper Stadhouders moves fluidly between textural experimentation and aggressive riffing, while bassist Gonçalo Almeida draws on his acoustic jazz and ambient noise backgrounds. Moser's experience in progressive metal adds rhythmic precision and power to the mix.

This combination of players allows Klein to write music that works on multiple levels without conscious stratification. "I don't make deliberate choices about providing different levels of experience," he explains. "But I often think in layers, where one might contain something you can easily surrender to, while another challenges your expectations."

The band's sound has evolved significantly since its 2005 founding as a nonet. That early incarnation featured a more acoustic approach, though many key elements were already present, including an appreciation for both extreme metal bands like Meshuggah and South Indian classical music. Klein found himself particularly drawn to Carnatic music, the classical tradition of southern India known for its intricate rhythmic cycles and melodic development—music familiar to Western audiences through artists like Ravi Shankar and Remember Shakti, John McLaughlin's collaboration with Indian virtuosos. Spinifex collaborated with Carnatic musicians on two projects and toured India, absorbing ideas about rhythm and structure that still influence Klein's writing. Klein and trumpeter Gijs Levelt formed a smaller version of the band in 2010.

The shift to quintet format brought rougher textures and freer improvisation. Almeida introduced elements from noise and jazzcore, while Stadhouders brought new improvisational strategies. When the group expanded to a sextet, their musical scope paradoxically broadened while their collective sound became more focused. Recent work has pushed into new territory. Their previous album, Spinifex Sings (TryTone Records, 2022), featured vocalists Priya Purushothaman and Björk Níelsdóttir, incorporating texts by activist poets alongside original compositions. "That project came from throwing off all restraints during the pandemic uncertainty of 2020," Klein says. "It became a dream project."

But Undrilling the Hole represents a return to the band's instrumental core strengths—mathematical structures transformed into visceral music, precision deployed in service of raw energy. The album's song titles -"Embrace the Contradictions," "Explode the Paradox," "Admire the Ambiguities" -read like a manifesto for their approach. After nearly twenty years, Spinifex remains committed to making music that engages the mind and body, refusing to compromise while finding unity in apparent contradictions.

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