In the mid 1990s, the young Antwerp foursome, average age 19, created a sensation opening for rock bands and covering the dEUS hit “Suds & Soda”. Nothing unusual? Think again, since their line-up was violin, cello, accordion and clarinet.

All four members were classically trained, and their work bore evident traces of chamber music, but also of Michael Nyman's minimalism, Astor Piazzolla's tangos and klezmer. They played the music with the fearlessness of a rock group, and they always operated in the rock circuit.

But the music kept changing. They added electronics, drums, bass, piano – very sporadically even vocals – but not all at the same time, nor continually. Every new album had elements of the previous one, but also seemed a reaction against it. This ever-changing music might not always have been easy for the fans, but it was the result of the restlessness that characterises true artists.

"It's not that we're easily bored," explains accordion player Roel Van Camp. "It's the band's democracy working at full speed. We have different tastes and, before making a new album, there's a lot of talking and discussing."

DAAU released The Shepherd's Dream last weekend, their sixth effort, not counting a remix album and a rarities compilation. On the new release they play, for the first time since their 1996 eponymous debut album, purely acoustic music. Have they come full circle?

Van Camp says no. "It's not a back to basics album for us. Yes, it's acoustic again, but the music is different. The tempo used to be much higher, and it was also all about power and virtuosity. The compositions now have more space to breath."

And, of course, there is one other major difference. DAAU was formed in 1992 by Van Camp (second from right in photo), clarinettist Han Stubbe and the brothers Buni and Simon Lenski, who play, respectively, violin and cello. Even in later years, when a few other members joined – and left again after a while – the four have always been seen as the core of the band.

And then Buni up and left after the previous album Domestic Wildlife. "It wasn’t an option to look for a new violinist," Van Camp stresses. "Buni is irreplaceable."

But the ideal solution was close at hand: Hannes d'Hoine, the double bass player who had been playing with the band live for four years already. "This implies a slight musical shift,” explains Van Camp. “The cello now has a more melodic role."

The Shepherd's Dream doesn't come in a jewelled case, nor in handsome cardboard packaging so en vogue these past few years. No, it comes in a wooden box! And a beautiful one too, with the band name and the titles engraved. Inside, there's a little artwork for each of the five tracks, the CD and an empty sleeve for a second CD, The Dream Live. This is the idea: minutes after the end of each DAAU gig, you can buy a CD with the recording of the concert. For €9, you have a unique souvenir to slip into that empty sleeve. It seems like a bit of a strategy to counteract illegal downloading. But Van Camp again denies: "The point is that you can buy [older] CDs for €6 already, but new ones are still conspicuously expensive. If you're gonna let people pay €19, you better give them their money's worth."

DAAU sold live albums two years ago on a tour in Sweden, “and it worked,” says Van Camp. “More or less 10% of the people buy a live album.”

With a band famous for changing with every album, the obvious question is what the future will bring. Van Camp only has one certainty in store: "It will sound different again."

DAAU live
16 April
Once Upon A Festival
Laarne Castle
Eekhoekstraat 7, Laarne
17 April, 20.00
Botanique
Koningstraat 236, Brussels
24 April
Kraakpand 4.7
Handelsbeurs
Kouter 29, Ghent
www.daau.com