There is music for which the usual route – from the ear to the brain to the speech center - completely breaks down. So how does one describe something that defies description?

Let’s give it a try anyway. A string arrangement opens a curtain. Behind it, a vast landscape unfolds across a cinematic screen. A guitar leads us forward, harp sounds hint at a distant horizon. Gradually, more instruments join in, giving this imagined landscape shape and depth. It’s not a specific place being portrayed, but rather a blend of longing, curiosity, and imagined memory - translated into a deeply personal sense of freedom. And that’s just the beginning.

Fabia Mantwill is a composer, saxophonist, and bandleader from Berlin who has long shed any blinders. Jazz, Folklore, Americana, Pop, Classical, Film music, Exotica - none of these labels, even in combination, come close to capturing her sound. On her debut album EM.PERIENCE (2021), she already fully expressed her artistic vision. At the time, she was still defining who she was and what she stood for. Her second major work, IN.SIGHT, tells a very different story.

Though released in traditional album format, in this case, the album is merely the vehicle through which the music is conveyed. IN.SIGHT is a sonic spectacle that boldly defies all market conventions - a timeless event that can stand proudly alongside groundbreaking works like Dvořák’s New World Symphony, Robert Graettinger’s legendary City of Glass, or Elmer Bernstein’s soundtracks.

“Many of the decisions I made were intuitive,” Fabia recalls. “I’ve learned to trust what emerges. This album came from deep within me. It expresses what moves and touches me at my core.”

Caution against exaggeration is usually warranted - hype can quickly mislead. But in the case of IN.SIGHT, restraint feels entirely misplaced. What this young Berlin artist brings to the table is unlike anything you’ve heard before. And not because she breaks genre boundaries, redefines epochs, or disregards expectations and listening habits. Not even because she has access to a musical color palette like no other. What makes IN.SIGHT so extraordinary is her boundless way of thinking - without ever losing sight of the details. She sculpts a colossal soundscape, which, when listened to closely, reveals itself as an intricate mosaic of thousands upon thousands of tiny particles gathered from across the globe. In Fabia Mantwill’s musical universe, everything is possible. It’s all about finding the right level of harmony. An incredible compatibility of every conceivable real and virtual idiom comes cascading down on the listener like a Niagara Falls of endless imagination. It’s breathtaking.

To keep this spectrum as wide and open as possible, the seasoned composer collaborated for the first time with two like-minded co-composers. On one hand, they fuse into a creative trinity with her; on the other, they each bring their own distinct accents. Michael League, known as the leader of Snarky Puppy and experienced in large ensemble work through his collaborations with the Metropole Orkest. And Greek composer Magdalini Giannikou, who brings immense experience in blending various musical cultures. It was a risky experiment - but it paid off. Every piece on IN.SIGHT was co-composed, with no hint of fracture or dissonance. Instead, this team approach gave the music a profound sense of three-dimensionality.“I discovered that this didn’t make me lose my voice as a composer or my signature as an orchestrator - quite the opposite,” Fabia says. “It helped me sharpen and amplify my own ideas.”

That holds especially true for the six guest soloists who bring each track a unique glow and focus: guitarists Kurt Rosenwinkel and Roosevelt Collier, kora player Momi Maiga, accordionist Goran Stevanovic, French horn virtuoso Morris Klipphus, clarinetist Anat Cohen - and of course, Fabia Mantwill herself.

To list all the styles, traditions, and cultures woven into this music would take pages. And it would be entirely unnecessary - because the sum of Fabia Mantwill’s creative power produces something so new that it renders the original impulses irrelevant. She manages to be sublimely timeless, disarmingly accessible, and sear herself into the anticipatory memory of every listener. Despite its complexity, IN.SIGHT remains light and approachable throughout. Even if you never imagined that an album like this would ever exist, it takes only a few bars before you feel that this is the music you’ve been waiting for your whole life. Because it gathers everything music can offer into one cohesive experience.

Fabia Mantwill is a magician when it comes to the psychoacoustic possibilities of an orchestra. Countless ensembles call themselves “orchestras” - big bands, rock groups, salon ensembles. But the Fabia Mantwill Orchestra is none of these. It’s not a big band, not a film orchestra, not a symphony orchestra, and not a hybrid of them all. It’s a one-of-a-kind ensemble designed precisely to realize her musical visions – this time with 32 musicians and six soloists, performing her ideas with precision and heart.

IN.SIGHT is a declaration of unwavering trust - from a great composer and bandleader - in the primal force of music and in her own creative instincts. She keeps her vision in sharp focus and teaches her audience how to marvel. This music doesn’t need explanations. IN.SIGHT is nothing less than a wholehearted commitment to pure, absolute music.

written by Wolf Kampmann (Independent Music Journalist)