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A musical collaboration should always act to heighten possibilities. The conspiratorial intimacy of Between Ourselves (43'51") takes Sonia Skobeleva & Stanislav Vdovin to realms they may not have reached on their own. Made as a recreation for the contemplative person, this laid back album of eight epigrammatic sonic works is collectedly composed with clarity and intention. Between Ourselves offers multiple intersections mirroring the internal narrative - where ideas, memories and emotions connect in myriad combinations. This duo's impeccable tone, touch and technique results in intelligent, adventurous music - all the while churning out an engaging slow-jam groove. Chiming guitar notes impart color and atmosphere, and hang in reverberation - their sonic character greatly enhanced. While electric piano notes swirl above tumbling grooves and emphatic chords, floating voices and electronic textures arise and cool the heated electro-scheme. Letting a jazz attitude color the picture, Skobeleva & Vdovin generate rhythmic cells in step with chromatic progressions, as tracks congeal in cresting consonant pulse. Subdued attacks, swelling overtones and ample reverb all add to the thick atmosphere, as a restrained propulsion of beats move in simple additive elaboration. Each composition has its own unique rhythmic momentum, but the most emotionally expressive passages outline a fragile melody, and a brace of flowing innocence. The music on Between Ourselves means to fill an empty quarter. Uniting sound and spirit Skobeleva & Vdovin move through dusky moods of rhapsody and melancholy - their starlight night flight washed in vivid introspective hues.
- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END 4 August 2016 |
