An Laurence

Almost Touching

People Places, 2022

8/10

Listen to Almost Touching

A very compelling artist armed with strong guitar skills and a mysterious voice, An Laurence takes some subtle help from electronics on this very atypical listen of solo guitar interpretations of works by Amy Brandon, Kim Farris-Manning, Elisch Kaminer, Shelley Marwood, Arthur Keegan-Bole and Sofia Gubaidulina.

“Artificial Light” starts the listen with much atmosphere, as twinkling guitar is met with sci-fi like background ambience, and the title track follows with a minute of near silent breath before a haunting intimacy enters with soft, poetic singing.

In the middle, “Chants D’amour” is an hour long and spread across 11 tracks of whispered moments, gorgeous guitar, and bouts of sparse dissonance, while “Reconciling Duality” balances intensity and serenity with colorful gestures of beauty and restraint. “Nocturne” exits the listen, kind of, with a dreamy blur of guitar and electronics, though there’s a hidden track worth sticking around for, too.

Laurence has made quite an impression in the area of new/experimental sounds and performance/multimedia areas, and Almost Touching certainly embraces those strengths in her inimitable brand of song craft.

Travels well with: Matt Magerkurth- Amends; Warp Trio- Warp Trio’s Pandemic Disco Fantasy