Singing Stones (Volume 1)
Gizeh, 2024
9/10
Listen to Singing Stones (Volume 1)
The 4th album from the French collective founded by Christine Ott and Mathieu Gabry, as Snowdrops they mix classical, chamber and progressive ideas into these 8 unique selections.
“Corridors” starts the listen with a mysterious droning, before moody keys enter the waves of ambience, and “Crossing” follows with 19+ minutes of dense ideas versus brighter moments of melody that can even retreat to a bare beauty.
“The Weather Report” occupies the middle spot and recruits Anne-Iréne Kempf’s strategic viola for the cautious and abstract minimalism, while “Arctic Passage” simmers with a low buzzing via a sci-fi esque presence of ominous versus orchestral gestures.
Close to the end, “The River” benefits much from Bartosz Szwarc’s well timed accordion amid the atypical intimacy, and “Dreamers” exits with upbeat keys and a brighter tonality that finishes the listen with much warmth.
A very unique listen that straddles improvisation and orchestration, and organic meets synthetic instruments, similarities to Nils Frahm or Tangerine Dream will be appreciated across this enlightening body of work.
Travels well with: The Cry- The Cry; Luumu- Elephant Love Song