A Garden Adorned
New Focus, 2025
9/10
The always impressive chamber outfit loadbang return with works by Oscar Bettison, Raven Chacon, Yotam Haber, Christina J. George, and Laura Cetilia, where their technical and dynamic interaction makes for endearing interpretations.
The title track, by Bettison, opens with translations of a poem by Ibn Zamrak that unfold with expressive and mysterious gestures in a largely minimal landscape, and “Reckoning”, by Chacon, follows with a strategic buzzing and cinematic swells of timbrally expressive bouts and guttural moments of intrigue.
Haber’s “In A Rug Of Water” occupies the middle spot and encorporates brass, voice chorales and dense swells that benefit from the triple quartet setting, while “Liminal Songs” spans 5 chapters of self-reflective lyricism, bittersweet balladry and a rich ensemble presence via the George selection.
At the end, “Breath Of Cinder, Depth O Moss”, by Cetilia, is the lone track with electronics, and simmers with white noise, sine tones, and manipulated samples of a vinyl record player that emit a soothing capacity.
Yet another fascinating outing from loadbang, the aesthetics and ability to channel the human experience leaves the listener enthralled again.
Travels well with: Nils Vigeland- Perfect Happiness; New Thread Quartet- Saxifraga