Is it noise? Jazz? Free improvisation? Minimalism? Sound art? Punk? Mopcut's third album is their most divergent and genre-bending statement yet - an album that mischievously sneaks through the experimental scene, devouring its innovations and spitting away any conceptual ballast. Featuring guest appearances from avant-rap vanguardist MC Dälek, Philly poet and activist Moor Mother and respected turntablist and composer Mariam Rezaei, "RYOK" (Heat Crimes, 2.5.25) veers between various interconnected currents, constantly changing and reanimating itself in the process.

LINE-UP: Lukas Koenig: drums, Audrey Chen: vocals, synthesizer, Julien Desprez: electric guitar, Will Brooks aka MC Dälek: vocals, electronics

Mopcut is an international trio consisting of the experimental singer and electronic musician Audrey Chen, Lukas König, one of Europe's most renowned percussionists, and the French guitar eccentric Julien Desprez. Their ability to improvise defies all genre boundaries. Their energetic, frenzied pieces oscillate between unleashed expression and tamed, dense noise. Structured around ecstatic micro-explosions, they resemble an imaginary form of communication.

Their aim is to create a construct of noises and sounds that completely envelops the listener and has an equally intense effect on the ears and the inner eye - this is how Audrey Chen, Julien Desprez and Lukas König describe their trio project Mopcut, which premiered at the donaufestival Krems (AUT) in 2018. Their improvisational skills transcend all genre boundaries. Lukas König uses drums, synthesizer and voice; Julien Desprez plays electric guitar; and Audrey Chen overlays the sounds of her analogue synthesizers with ecstatic, improvised vocals.

2025 and Jazz Em Agosto offer Mopcut a special opportunity to present live guests Moor Mother and MC Dälek, who are both part of Mopcut's latest album "RYOK" (Heat Crimes, 2025) alongside other contributors such as Moor Mother, Evicshen and Mariam Rezaei.

Tirelessly creative and politically charged, Mopcut's third album "RYOK" fuses free improvisation, hip-hop, noise, post-punk and electronics into powerful new forms. Singer Audrey Chen, guitarist Julien Desprez and drummer Lukas Koenig are supported in their mission by guest vocalists Moor Mother and MC Dälek, while turntablist Mariam Rezaei and noise musician Evicshen contribute breathtaking remixes.

"Mopcut aims at minimalism or maximalism, depending. Improvisation, noise and electronic beats work well as backgrounds. (...) A tightly disciplined yet exuberant set of performances." (THE WIRE)

Jonas Engel plays as support:
Extended playing techniques, prepared instruments and self-developed sound bodies: saxophonist and composer Jonas Engel is firmly established in the national and international scene for experimental and improvised music and imposes no limits on his musical joy of discovery.