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Imagination transforms the commonplace into the great and creates the new out of the old. Simply by paying attention to the world creative types may savor a certain grace that does not descend to our realm all that often. Kvad (53'27"), the intriguing and beautiful album by Erik Levander unfolds like the settling of dusk on the land. Surprising and pleasurably uncategorizable its seven tracks trace their origins back to a decades old random recording of a cathedral choir rehearsal. Finding a mysterious and unlikely power in his capture Levander, exploring the upper limits of creatively, has transformed the glorious verses into dynamically shaded works of Ambient Music. In a divine dance of harmony and timbre somnolent chords sustain below the rise and fall of merciful melodies and tenebrous textures. Precise, like a prayer, then moody and glowering, the low-key execution found throughout Kvad lends a sensuousness and depth to this quietly confident work. From the elegiac and otherworldly, to the tumultuous soundscapes of the nocturnal, each moment of movement carries us along on tones bound for nowhere. The final form of each piece feels transitional, fluctuating, always alive, always developing, as if changing with the light. Made without concern for genre expectations Kvad is a leap into artistic freedom, and proof that musicians excel when they follow their passions.
- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END 28 September 2023 |
