Trust me: I’m the last person to be philosophizin’ on your backsides. I leave that sort of thing to the experts: schooled savants, Monday morning quarterbacks, and the geniuses/lunatics that grace downtown street corners. For example, Nietzsche had passionate ideas about art and was more articulate about it than I could ever dream to be. “Art and nothing but art!” he said, “…the great seduction to life, the great stimulant of life.”
If you are a believer in the intoxicating energy produced by art, a force becoming kinetic when music moves someone, then your life needs modern classical composer Poppy Ackroyd, who has orchestrated one of the greatest seductions you will hear all year in “The Calm Before,” the first taste from her forthcoming album Resolve.
Resolve is out February 2 on One Little Indian and is available to pre-order on CD, DL, and 2xLP here. Self-produced by Ackroyd, Resolve sees the pianist and clarinetist experimenting with sound in the studio as usual — but this time around, manipulated field recordings give way to the participation of guest musicians such as Manu Delago (Bjork, Cinematic Orchestra) on the Hang, Mike Lesirge (Bonobo, Andreya Triana) on clarinet and flute, and prodigy Jo Quail on cello. The result is confident set of songs, starting with the aforementioned “The Calm Before.” The track’s quiet piano trills and clarinet “percussion” fluttering as brisk as a sparrow’s heartbeat gently drive the loveliest 6:09 you’ll spend in a long time.
P.S. Ackroyd, soloing and opening for the Joe Acheson-led Hidden Orchestra in which she performs, will be playing some European dates starting at the end of the month, including two places I have never listed before in a news story (and I have been doing this a LONG time). So, congrats Olomouc, Czech Republic and Opwijk, Belgium! You’ve been “Nadelled”!
Resolve tracklisting:
01. Paper
02. Light
03. The Calm Before
04. Resolve
05. Quail
06. The Dream
07. Time
08. Luna
09. Stems
10. Trains
Poppy Ackroyd live dates:
11.20.17 - Cologne, Germany - Stadtgarten #
11.21.17 - Hamburg, Germany - Knust #
11.22.17 - Berlin, Germany - Lido #
11.23.17 - Istanbul, Turkey - Salon IKSV #
11.24.17 - Thessaloniki, Greece - Principal Club Theater #
11.25.17 - Athens, Greece - Gazarte #
11.26.17 - Prague, Czech Republic - Lucerna Music Bar $
11.27.17 - Olomouc, Czech Republic - Jazz Tibet Club $
11.28.17 - Vienna, Austria - WUK #
11.29.17 - Budapest, Hungary - A38 #
11.30.17 - Kosice, Slovakia - Tabačka Kulturfabrik $
12.01.17 - Warsaw, Poland - Niebo
12.02.17 - Gdansk, Poland - Klub Zak $
12.03.17 - Poznan, Poland - Scena na Peitrze $
12.06.17 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg Old Hal #
12.07.17 - Ghent, Belgium - Democrazy @ BIB #
12.08.17 - Opwijk, Belgium - Nosta $
12.09.17 - Brighton, England - ACCA $
# Hidden Orchestra
$ Poppy Ackroyd, Hidden Orchestra
More about: Poppy Ackroyd
