Skander Jaïbi
Who has the right to closure?
Tracklist:
Side A
I
II
III
IV
Side B
V
VI
VII
VIII
Listen and order on bandcamp
Credits:
Written, recorded, and produced by Skander Jaïbi
Featuring Choir Lex et Gaudium
Mixed by Skander Jaïbi
Mastered by Wouter Brandenburg
Artwork and paintings by Hans Schuttenbeld
Typographic design by Ines Kooli
UE000
© 2025 Uncloud Editions
Thank you: Alicia Verdú Macián, Hans Schuttenbeld, Ines Kooli, and Skander Ben Yahia.
Artist Biography:
Skander Jaïbi is a Tunisian and Dutch composer, audiovisual artist, curator, and science educator. He obtained his MSc degree in the philosophy of (quantum) physics in 2020 at the University of Utrecht and is one of the founders of Uncloud festival. As an artist, his medium of choice is often sound. His works range from a strong focus on the use of field recordings and archival material to creating compositions that may or may not integrate such recordings. Next to his autonomous practice, Skander has collaborated on various occasions on, among others, dance pieces, movies, and art installations.
Who has the right to closure? is the debut album of Skander Jaïbi. It is a studio iteration on a piece that was originally composed for a dance choreography titled CLAUSURA by Alicia Verdú Macián.Taking inspiration from themes of loss, grief, and closure, the dance piece and the musical composition balance between the common and the unknown. By times, the composition is classical and habitual, by others intangible and elusive. The album consists of eight chapters, represented as tracks, numbered from I to VIII.
The album was visually interpreted by calligrapher, designer, and painter Hans Schuttenbeld. A series of eight paintings has been chosen, out of over 30 paintings, together with Skander Jaïbi, and forms the backbone of the design of the album.
The album comes in various formats: (combinations of) vinyl, printed booklet with eight paintings, cassette, and digital formats.
Reviews
“Who has the right to closure conjures a world of ominous calm. Within slumbering drones, voices, sounds, and rustlings intertwine, inviting you to get lost in deep reverberations. Carefully composed sonic landscapes set the stage for a journey through light and shadow.
The organic repetition in track VI stands out, evoking memories of the ambient classic Riceboy Sleeps by Jónsi & Alex. Track V, in which the choir recorded by Skander takes center stage, gracefully circles around a velvety melody. Originally written for a dance performance, this work now stands firmly on its own as a self-contained album.”
— Pim ten Have
“Opening the page, Who has the right to closure? forms the beginning of a newly founded label with tales of inward journeys bound to the turbulence of life, expressing intensity in all its rich, searing form. Realised and captured by a founding member of the Utrecht based Uncloud Festival, Skander Jaïbi.
Like hallowed ground, the reassurance of voices haunting the opening number, I, feel ethereal yet suggesting a certain tension exercised in their midst. Likewise, spread across eight chapters of awe-inspiring sound, each chapter is full of wide-open passages, highlighting everything from wonder to loss. Still, and this is the crucial bit, all contain a flair of musicality to keep the flame of intrigue very much alive. Consequently, the music filling the album is more in-depth than other contemporaries playing in this field of drum-free composition, or, if you prefer, ambience, classical, or a blend of all three.
III, dances around contemporary rhythm in free flight, letting go of the controls and sounding all the more powerfully exquisite for it. That chorus of voices is returned to on the infusion of uncertain bliss gathered around the formation of V. The sizzle of bowed strings highlights VI, leaving you at the point where memories begin to fade from view on the completion of VIII.
Who has the right to closure? It is an album full of depth and response. Of textures in quiet reflections that engage in myriad ways. It is also beautiful and contemplative, evoking the warm twilight of frayed exposure.”
“The result is a haunting and immersive spectral work, recalling the atmospheres of Marsen Jules and Arovane. Divided into eight chapters, numbered I through VIII, each piece is accompanied by paintings from visual artist Hans Schuttenbeld – featured on the album cover – providing a compelling dialogue between sound and image that reflects Uncloud’s multidisciplinary vision.
A standout piece from the album is the opening track: a ghostly transmission, like a crackled PA system echoing in suspended sorrow. Pensive choral motifs float amid textured electroacoustic layers, evoking the spectral presence of The Caretaker and the psychoacoustic delicacy of Félicia Atkinson. With this release, Jaïbi sculpts silence and sound into something deeply affecting.”
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