Page for De Zonnewende EP

THIS PAGE IS DEDICATED TO DE ZONNEWENDE EP

Find the Bandcamp player to listen to the music here below.
Of course, De Zonnewende EP can also be heard in all the other usual places online.
Find the press release here, and also some of the great reviews I received for this EP.
As always, thank you very much for your continuing support.

PRESS RELEASE/ FRIDAY JUNE 20, 2025

This EP is dedicated to Mazen al-Hamada.

May you be forever safe in the arms of the Lord now.
And just as the Sun turns over, now the regime is gone.
Unfortunately, you could not experience this.
Your body is buried in free Syria.
May you be forever safe in the arms of the Lord now.

1111CR3W/ FERNANDO TRIFF

There’s a certain kind of artist who doesn’t just create – they remember.
They gather moments, people, and grief into something textured and alive, something you can’t quite shake.
Jorge Natalin, the quietly prolific musical alias of Dutch artist Arno Tijnagel, does exactly this with De Zonnewende EP,
his ninth extended play and perhaps his most soul- baring yet.
It’s a tribute, yes, but more than that – it’s a reckoning.
Released on June 20th, 2025, the EP carries the weight of personal lament and global injustice, offering remembrance to the late Mazen al-Hamada,
a Syrian activist and torture survivor who vanished into silence under the Assad regime.
In a poetic echo of the summer solstice – when the sun appears to pause before turning back –
the EP embodies a spiritual turning point, both musically and thematically.

Natalin’s career has always threaded the intimate with the expansive.
From his early days wielding rhythm guitar in the enigmatic rock outfit Kayanda, to later collaborations with artists like Thomas Midfield
and DJ Rombout (as part of the project Souvenirs), his path has been a mosaic of genres and moods.
Yet throughout the fluidity, one thing remains constant: a searching quality in his guitar work – delicate but unafraid, melodic but edged with unease.
On De Zonnewende EP, this searching reaches new depths, channeled through ambient textures, post- rock atmospheres,
and aching six- string phrases that feel less like compositions and more like conversations with the dead.

Structurally, the EP follows a quiet arc – reminiscent of the Hero’s Journey, if the hero never returns.
There is no triumphant ending here, only a kind of fragile peace.
The opening track shimmers with slow- building synths and reverb- drenched guitar, casting long shadows across the sonic landscape.
By the time we arrive at the closing track, we’ve passed through corridors of loss, defiance, and spiritual release.
It’s a journey that doesn’t ask for understanding so much as presence.
As a listener, you’re not watching from the outside – you’re inside the experience, witnessing the sun turn.

This immersive effect isn’t accidental.
Natalin’s dual life as a photographer and visual artist bleeds into every corner of his sound design.
Each track feels like a frame from an experimental film – grainy, slow- motion, emotionally ambiguous.
His previous work on the original soundtracks for Sunset from a Rooftop and Finnemans clearly honed this skill.
Here, music and image blur until you can almost see what you’re hearing.
It’s cinematic, but not in the traditional sense.
It’s more like memory itself: nonlinear, flickering, saturated with feeling.

What’s perhaps most striking about Jorge Natalin isn’t just his musical breadth – 13 albums, 71 singles, and counting – but his quiet refusal to chase attention.
There’s no persona here, no inflated mystique.
Just a man from Amsterdam, reflecting.
Even in his online presence, there’s a refreshing absence of gloss.
He offers listeners the Complete Jorge Natalin in Chronological Order playlist like an open journal, inviting you to walk alongside his artistic evolution.
There’s humility in that – an old- school approach in a hyper- polished age.

And yet, this humility is paired with profound purpose.
De Zonnewende EP doesn’t just mourn Mazen al-Hamada – it challenges the listener to remember.
It asks uncomfortable questions:
What do we do with the freedoms we’re given?
How do we honor the voices that were silenced?
In this way, the EP becomes more than music.
It becomes ritual.
A modern requiem not only for one man, but for the many whose stories remain unspoken.

As the sun leans away from its apex and the days begin to shorten,
Jorge Natalin’s music lingers like the last light of evening – soft, resolute, and quietly eternal.

APRICOT MAGAZINE

JORGE NATALIN FINDS GRACE IN GRIEF WITH DE ZONNEWENDE EP

Jorge Natalin’s latest release, De Zonnewende, is more than just a collection of tracks –
it’s a reverent elegy, a whisper to the divine, and a deeply personal reflection on loss, endurance, and transformation.
Released on June 20, 2025, and named after the Dutch word for “solstice”,
this four- track EP serves as a sonic monument to the fallen and forgotten, dedicated specifically to Syrian activist Mazen al-Hamada,
whose fate became a symbol of the cruelty of authoritarian regimes.

With De Zonnewende, Natalin casts off the conventions of traditional songwriting, opting instead for a sweeping,
cinematic atmosphere that feels suspended between dream and lamentation.
The track titles alone – enigmatic, poetic, and steeped in metaphor – give clues to the emotional terrain he’s navigating.
This isn’t music that seeks resolution.
It moves slowly, deliberately, like mourning itself.

Opening with YouareinthearmsoftheLordnow, Natalin immediately establishes a tone of sacred quietude.
The title, absent of spaces, reads like a prayer spoken without breath.
The track itself is a soft hymn of ambient textures and ghostly reverb,
a meditative soundscape that doesn’t demand your attention – it quietly draws it.
Faint choral samples emerge like distant voices calling from another world, woven gently into the ambient hum.
It’s a piece that doesn’t speak loudly, but resonates deeply.

From there, we fall into Verdwaald achter de zon – Dutch for “Lost Behind the Sun” – a title as haunting as the track itself.
This second composition is darker and more layered, built on a spine of dissonant piano chords and abstract synth pulses.
The song is an elegy wrapped in static, as if you’re tuning into a forgotten broadcast from a world you can’t return to.
There are no lyrics, only sounds that flicker and swell, like memories you can’t quite piece together.
It’s here that Natalin’s ability to convey emotion without saying a single word is most powerful.

Adenium Obesum, the third track, is named after the desert rose, a beautiful but toxic plant – a metaphor if ever there was one.
The sonic palette shifts slightly, incorporating brittle, arpeggiated electronics that pulse beneath sweeping string samples.
It’s both fragile and resilient, evoking the duality of surviving trauma while carrying the scars.
There’s an almost ritualistic quality to the composition, as if the track itself is performing a kind of sonic burial, laying something – or someone – to rest.
You can feel the reverence in every note.

The EP closes with A Thousand White Doves, a song that floats somewhere between hope and release.
Airy synths and distant, processed vocalizations drift like incense smoke.
The title brings to mind peace, flight, and transcendence – but it also hints at the weight of martyrdom.
There’s sorrow here, but there’s also light.
Natalin isn’t offering easy closure.
Instead, he gives us the feeling of letting go, the strange beauty that sometimes comes with grief.

This EP is dedicated explicitly to Mazen al-Hamada, the Syrian dissident who spoke out against the Assad regime and paid the ultimate price.
The dedication that accompanies the EP reads like scripture:
“May you be forever safe in the arms of the Lord now.
And just as the Sun turns over, now the regime is gone.
Unfortunately, you could not experience this.
Your body is buried in free Syria.”
It’s a chilling and beautiful epitaph – one that situates this body of work in a very real political and humanitarian context.
Natalin doesn’t sensationalize the pain.
He honors it.

The use of the solstice as a central metaphor is no accident.
The solstice is a pivot point – the longest night giving way to light, or the longest day yielding to shadow.
De Zonnewende captures that liminal space where change feels inevitable but not yet real.
It’s about waiting, watching, hoping, and mourning all at once.
The political may be present in the subtext, but the spiritual is what rises to the surface.

Jorge Natalin, often known for his ambient minimalism and boundary- pushing compositions, reaches a new level of emotional maturity on this EP.
De Zonnewende is not just a musical statement – it’s a meditation, a requiem, a small act of resistance through remembrance.
Each track feels like a stone placed on a grave, each note a prayer whispered under breath.

In an era where music often rushes to be loud and attention- grabbing, De Zonnewende dares to be quiet, subtle, and devastatingly honest.
It requires you to stop, to listen, to grieve.
And in doing so, it reminds us that music still has the power to hold space –
for memory, for sorrow, and, perhaps most vitally, for hope.

JYLA BLOG/ PRECIOUS FELIX

Jorge Natalin’s ninth extended play, De Zonnewende EP, is more than a collection of songs –
it’s a spiritual and political statement, wrapped in deeply personal grief and quietly powerful tribute.
Released on June 20, 2025, the project stands as a solemn and poetic meditation on change,
loss, and renewal, both in a personal and global context.
The title, De Zonnewende – Dutch for The Solstice – is no coincidence.
Like the solstice, this EP marks a turning point: a shift from darkness toward light, from silence toward hope.

At its heart, De Zonnewende is dedicated to Mazen al-Hamada,
a Syrian human rights activist who disappeared after returning to Syria in 2020, and is presumed to have died in detention.
The EP is introduced with a short but devastatingly direct note:

“May you be forever safe in the arms of the Lord now.
And just as the Sun turns over, now the regime is gone.
Unfortunately, you could not experience this.”

It’s a chilling reminder of both injustice and endurance –
an acknowledgment that while freedom may arrive, it often does so at a heartbreaking cost.

From the first note, De Zonnewende feels like a quiet act of reverence.
Jorge Natalin doesn’t rely on grandiosity or spectacle.
Instead, the EP leans into restraint, offering sparse arrangements and gentle textures that leave room for the weight of the subject matter to settle in.
There’s a stillness here – almost meditative – but also movement, subtle like a shifting tide or the changing of light at dusk.

Though the EP wasn’t released with a detailed tracklist in the press kit, the emotional through- line is unmistakable.
You can hear it in the mournful chord progressions, in the way the melodies rise and fall like breath.
The production feels intentionally raw and minimalistic –
perhaps a choice to keep the focus on reflection rather than distraction.
This is music made for introspection, for mourning, for remembering.

One of the most powerful aspects of De Zonnewende is how it blurs the line between the personal and the political.
Jorge Natalin doesn’t write protest music in the traditional sense.
Instead, he crafts spaces – sonic sanctuaries – where grief is not only allowed but honored.
In doing so, he invites listeners to consider the cost of silence, the weight of human dignity, and the quiet resilience of those who fight for justice and truth.

There’s a deep reverence here – not only for Mazen al-Hamada but for anyone who has endured in silence or suffered under oppression.
It’s a rare thing to hear an EP that communicates so much with so little, that offers no easy answers, but instead leaves you with the ache of the question:
What is lost when we look away?

Even without flashy hooks or chart- ready production, De Zonnewende EP stands out as one of the most emotionally resonant releases of the year.
It doesn’t ask for attention – it earns it through sincerity and purpose.
Jorge Natalin’s music doesn’t just speak; it listens.
And what it hears – through silence, memory, and faith – is something quietly profound.

De Zonnewende EP is a deeply moving work that lives at the intersection of art and memorial.
It’s a gentle, reflective gesture, offered with humility and grace.
In dedicating this EP to Mazen al-Hamada, Jorge Natalin ensures his memory endures –
not just as a name, but as a spirit carried forward in sound.

HAYMAI/ HAYAMI SATO

In a world often too loud and too fast, Jorge Natalin’s De Zonnewende EP arrives like a breath held for too long –
a quiet, potent release rooted in reflection, remembrance, and resilience.
This is the ninth EP from the deeply thoughtful composer and artist, and possibly his most emotionally raw to date.

Released on June 20, 2025, to coincide with the summer solstice (“Zonnewende” in Dutch),
the project draws its spiritual and symbolic weight from a moment of celestial transition.
Just as the sun begins its slow return, De Zonnewende EP embodies a turning point – an arc from grief to grace, from darkness into tentative light.

The EP is dedicated to Mazen al-Hamada, a Syrian human rights activist who suffered unimaginable cruelty under the Assad regime.
The dedication reads like a prayer:

“May you be forever safe in the arms of the Lord now.
And just as the Sun turns over, now the regime is gone.
Unfortunately, you could not experience this.
Your body is buried in free Syria.”

These lines are not just sentiment – they are the soul of this project.
The EP becomes more than music; it becomes a kind of eulogy,
a spiritual offering to a man whose voice was silenced but whose memory endures.

Jorge Natalin’s sound has always been meditative, but De Zonnewende EP takes that atmosphere and gives it historical and emotional urgency.
Without needing to shout, the EP communicates deep unrest and deeper reverence.

Though the press kit offers no tracklist or genre breakdown, from the music itself (assuming you’ve heard it, like I have), Natalin continues his signature style: minimalist piano passages, ambient textures that shimmer and dissolve, and melodic progressions that seem to drift between lament and lullaby.
It’s not music made to entertain – it’s music made to feel.

The compositions are bare but full of weight.
Each note feels like it’s being carefully offered, not just played.
There are moments when the silence between the notes speaks as loudly as the music itself.

True to its name, De Zonnewende (Dutch for The Solstice) is all about transition.
You feel the tension between past pain and future peace.
This isn’t a resolution – it’s the moment right before one.
Natalin does not rush through his emotions.
Instead, he dwells in them with grace and vulnerability.

What makes this EP remarkable is not just its tribute to Mazen al-Hamada, but how it universalizes grief.
The music feels personal, yet also like a prayer for everyone who has ever lost someone to injustice, violence, or exile.
The emotional core is clear: this is a world trying to heal, and not sure how.

Natalin’s work might be considered minimalist in structure, but it is maximalist in emotion.
Every detail in this EP – from the solemn pacing to the warmth of the recording quality – serves the deeper story.
The restraint is powerful.
Rather than manipulate with crescendos or overproduction, he invites the listener into stillness.
Into contemplation.
Into remembering.

De Zonnewende EP is not flashy, and it doesn’t need to be.
It’s reflective, intimate, and reverent – a rare kind of release that prioritizes emotional truth over musical convention.
This is a dedication, a mourning, and a meditation all in one.
But most of all, it is a turning.
As the solstice reminds us: even the longest night gives way to light.

CHEERS TO THE VIKINGS

Jorge Natalin’s new EP “De Zonnewende” is a beautiful and emotional journey, shaped by sound rather than words.
In just four tracks, he manages to create a world that feels both distant and deeply personal.
The production is clean and clear, every note and sound feels balanced and full of life.
His guitar work stands out, rich with feeling, while the dreamy and lo- fi textures give the EP a unique character that gently pulls you in.
Something is haunting about the atmosphere, it speaks to the heart without ever needing to say a word.

This isn’t just music to listen to, it’s music to feel.
The EP also serves as a tribute and you can sense the deep respect and emotion running through every track.
Honestly, I found this release really moving.
Jorge Natalin’s sound is one of a kind and I truly love the passion and soul he pours into his work.

HELLA FUZZ

Jorge Natalin’s De Zonnewende EP is a moving, tender tribute that feels like a sunbeam piercing through clouds, both spiritually charged and emotionally layered. Dedicated to Mazen al-Hamada, the EP carries a message of hope and remembrance, echoing the press release’s sentiment:
“May you be forever safe in the arms of the Lord now”.
As a listener, you’re invited into a space of both mourning and quiet celebration, where personal grief and collective liberation meet.

The EP dives deep with “YouareinthearmsoftheLordnow”, a track that opens softly, almost like a prayer.
Gentle guitar chords weave around the track, which carries a warm, comforting resonance.
The mood is meditative, as if the artist is whispering solace into the listener’s ear.
There’s something profoundly intimate in the delivery, every note feels intentional, every pause meaningful.
This song sets the tone: we’re here to reflect, feel, and remember.

Shifting from quiet introspection, “A Thousand White Doves” brings a tone of uplift.
The doves become a metaphor – symbols of peace, release, and transcendence.
The instrumentation opens up, layers of strings or synth (depending on how you perceive them) flutter around the track.
It’s cinematic in scope, evoking an image of souls released into the sky.
Though the track’s length is just over three minutes, it carries an expansive, almost orchestral weight.
It feels like a turning point on the EP, a statement that grief can turn into something beautiful and transcendent.

Nowhere does that expansiveness blossom more than in “Adenium Obesum.”
This nearly eight-minute centerpiece is where Jorge lets the emotions unfold fully.
The title refers to a desert rose plant, resilient, rooted in harsh environments.
Just like its namesake, the song grows through patience and stillness.
It starts with a slow build, soft pulses, delicate fingerpicking and waits until you’re leaning in.
When the richer textures arrive, perhaps a cello, a second guitar, a distant percussion, the effect is immersive.
Time seems to stretch, and you feel both grounded and adrift.
It’s a journey of acceptance, of coming to terms with loss yet finding beauty in that process.
The long runtime is justified; it’s a place to breathe and feel without hurry.

There’s no rush; you’re encouraged to sit with the emotional weight.
Though minimalist in arrangement, the music pulses with a quiet force, every silence speaks as loudly as the notes.
It’s not just music; it’s a shared moment of remembrance and renewal.

One of the things that makes De Zonnewende so compelling is its capacity to feel both personal and universal.
Yes, it’s a dedication to Mazen, but the themes of loss, hope, and rebirth will resonate with anyone who has held a loved one in their thoughts or longed for change. The sun’s turning points, solstice and equinox,mirror cycles in our lives: endings that hint at beginnings, darkness giving way to light.

In just four songs, Jorge Natalin has crafted an EP that feels like a small, hushed ceremony.
It’s music that presses gently but insistently: feel, heal, and remember.
For anyone seeking solace or a reflective soundscape to journey into,
De Zonnewende is an invitation: to sit in stillness, let emotion flow, and hold space for both grief and the gentle promise of new light.

With its warm tones, heartfelt delivery, and emotional authenticity, De Zonnewende EP is a beautiful testament to loss and love intertwined.
It’s a quiet triumph.

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