Cycles Of Resistance
Aerocade, 2023
9/10
Listen to Cycles Of Resistance
The stunning soprano Chelsea Hollow brings us 24 songs that are rooted in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, when she missed her artist community, and tools like a vocoder, looper pedal, modular synthesizer and fixed media enhance the listening experience.
“Darkness Of The Womb” gets the listen off to an elegant start, where melodic piano from Taylor Chan suits Hollow’s expressive and flowing vocals across the 5 chapters, and “Two Poems by Qiu Jin” follows with an indeed poetic spirit via the moody keys and descriptive singing that emits much beauty.
Further along, the uniquely dreamy “Maagal” carries a conversational tone of a mesmerizing quality, while “AOC Takes The Floor” is a fuller moment of energetic gestures and meticulous finger acrobatics from Taylor, though Jason Cady’s modular synthesizer is quite animated, too.
Nearing the end, “Al Kan Kusak” offers 7 movements of rumbling keys, chilling vocals and much diversity, and “Prayers For Peace” exits with gorgeous interaction between the rich keys and sublime singing.
An accomplished effort in the area of contemporary classical sounds, the poetry, speeches, and mantras are meshed with harmonic textures, involved melodies and looped vocal layering for a highly captivating outing.
Travels well with: Ryan Townsend Strand- Dear Mrs. Kennedy; Elizabeth Robinson- Aviary