Alex Tambu releases new neo-classical and multilingual album 'Fragments'

Alex Tambu is a contemporary composer and musician whose work blends classical, ambient and Afro-influenced traditions into emotionally rich musical landscapes. His compositions are rooted in memory, heritage, and lived experience, and are presented through concerts, interdisciplinary collaborations, and live performances across Europe. On 22 February he releases new album 'Fragments', a collection of 13 piano-driven compositions accompanied by female poetic voices reciting in French, Flemish, Turkish, Arabic and other languages.

Q: When did your love for the piano start?

My love for the piano began when I was about two or three years old. My parents don’t play music themselves, but they were always listening to it. As a child, I would try to catch their attention by mimicking the sounds I heard on the piano. It became my way of communicating. They quickly noticed that playing was also the only moment when I was truly calm. Not long after, they enrolled me in a music academy.

Q: When did you know which genre you wanted to focus on?

I have many friends in the jazz world, and for a long time I was surrounded by that scene. But when I was in New Orleans and experienced jazz in its true cultural and historical context, I realized something important: I didn’t feel it was my place to claim that tradition as my own. Jazz is rooted in histories of racism, discrimination, and systemic struggle. I was born and raised in the city center of Brussels and attended a private music academy. My background is very different. That realization made me question my position within that genre.

At the same time, I don’t define myself by one specific genre. I naturally lean toward neo-classical music and sometimes pure Western classical repertoire. However, I carry a jazz mentality in the way I play: a sense of freedom, improvisation, and spirituality. Even as a child, I was less fascinated by simply playing the notes of composers like Frédéric Chopin and Ludwig van Beethoven, and more interested in understanding why they chose those particular notes. That curiosity still shapes how I approach music today.

Q: What was the concept behind 'fragments'?

A: This album emerged quietly, from a space where sound meets silence and emotion lingers between breath and memory. Each track unfolds like a fragment of a dream, shaped through instinct, experimentation, and moments of introspection. What you hear is the echo of a process both delicate and deliberate, a slow weaving of atmosphere, feeling, and intuition.

Q: The album features collaborations with different artists and in different languages. How was it working on putting the songs together with their voices and your compositions?

Most spoken-word artists perform and record in English, even when it’s not their native or most comfortable language. I wanted the artists on this album to feel completely at ease and to express themselves in the language that feels most natural to them. Being based in Belgium, that naturally includes Dutch and/or French. But Belgium is also a deeply multicultural society, so it felt important to welcome the native languages of each artist’s background.

I also chose not to provide translations. I want listeners to focus on feeling rather than analysing. When you don’t intellectually understand every word, you’re invited to experience the emotion, the rhythm, and the energy in a more instinctive way. In this creation, I deliberately chose NOT to include poetry or spoken word in English. Instead, the voices you will hear flow through other tongues/ unfamiliar, ancient, intimate/ revealing the quiet beauty and emotional depth of languages often unheard.

Q:The album will be available in vinyl and accompanied by a poetry book. I find this combo very complete and original. Did you have a clear idea of how you wanted to world to have access to your your music?

First of all, I want to thank PressForward for making this possible. The idea of pairing the vinyl with a poetry book was actually suggested by them, and I immediately felt it was the right direction.

My intention with this album is to invite people to slow down for an hour. To sit with the vinyl, open the poetry book, look at the illustrations, and allow the music to gently enter their mind and spirit. I wanted the experience to feel complete and immersive. Of course, not everyone owns a vinyl player, so the album will also be available on all streaming platforms. The poetry book will be available separately as well.

Q: You already have some dates confirmed in the coming weeks. Are you excited to present your new music live?

I’m very excited! There are many concerts coming up. The tour begins in Antwerp at the Arenberg on March 22. After that, I’ll be performing seven concert dates in Switzerland before returning to Belgium incl in Ghent around 8 April for Oxfam Belgium and in Brussels on 17 April for Sonhouse.

Presenting this music live feels very special, because it was created to be experienced collectively. I’m really looking forward to sharing it with audiences in different places and feeling how it evolves each night.

Alex considers himself a musical spirit, nurtured by the melodies that filled his childhood home. At the age of 3, he felt a strong attraction to the piano. He was captivated by the urge to replicate the sounds that surrounded him. His musical expression is unique because he perceives it in a special way. He does not see it through mere notes, but as a vibrant palette of colours. The piano is his canvas, and he paints with emotion.

"The making of this record was guided by sensitivity. Every sound, every pause, every texture was chosen with care, allowing the music to speak in its own language; one that lives beyond structure and expectation", he said.

'Fragments' is pressed by Belgian company PRESS FORWARD.

Get the album here, follow Alex on Instagram and do not miss him playing new music around Belgium from March. Check out all the dates in his website.

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