Extension
Navona, 2020
8/10
A composer and media artist who is well versed in classical, world music, avant garde and experimental sounds, Svjetlana Bukvich uses technology, music and the motions of dance on the highly atypical and often fascinating album, Extension.
“The Beginning” gets the listen off to an atmospheric start with bare, plucked strings amid spacey exploration that even offers an electric violin, and this leads into “Utopia”, where keys and violin interact together as wordless vocals guide the light, airy setting.
Things only get more unpredictable from here, including the calm, orchestral delivery of “Once You Are Not A Stranger”, while “Graves” soars with a darker quality of chanting like qualities and meditative ideas. “Once You Are Not A Stranger (vocal)”, one of the album’s best, then brings in an operatic approach to the sparse beauty.
Near the end, “Nema Te (You Aren’t Here, You Aren’t There)” uses repetition strategically in the quirky effort, and the 3rd version of “Once You Are Not A Stranger (Reprise)” exits the listen with a cinematic quality as sweeping beauty enters the affair.
Bukvich’s musical vision strives for a ‘no-genre-borderless-flow’ with her art, and I’d say she easily achieves that with Extension, as she manipulates style, time and musical history in a few that few would dare to try to.
Travels well with: Taktus- Mirrored Glass; Moto Celeste- Trio Casals