One for your tone tweaking, mood mellowing, ambience altering playlists, German composer Nils Frahm's "Spaces" turns an approach to traditional Piano music on its side. Harnessing a traditional aesthetic beauty the timeless instrument offers, then yielding its charm through a structure more common to electronic music. With droning repetitions of boldly struck notes and melancholic chords, the music gradually drifts its way through soft lush groans, vivid harmonious blooms and dense emotional swells.
Some of its songs end to applause from a live audience, the authenticity of these performances and analog tape recordings reinforce its organic nature, only amplifying the exquisite performances on display. In dexterous strides of swift complexity, one could mistake the seemingly robotic execution of notes for virtualization. Even within these strides of virtuoso, the endearing imperfections only humanize its dynamic.
Counterpart to its animated flushes, the record will happily croon into elongated explorations of ambiguous sound, where the piano takes a backseat through this unique exploration of sound. The exchange is masterful, never rushed yet can ruminate with class, venturing to all temperaments between. At seventy six minutes, its a rich offering of ideas, feeling more like a compilation of ideas than a full cohesive vision. Give it a spin and within you'll find your moments of magic to revel with.
Rating: 7/10