With their second album, AVAWAVES, the duo of Aisling Brouwer and Anna Phoebe, found themselves stranded far from one another during the enforced partition of lockdown, but still with a burning desire to collaborate on new music.
The synchronicity of their ideas and sounds is in no way affected by the isolation and if anything, there is a sense of longing that plays throughout Chrysalis that captures the feeling of being separated; a kind of melancholy that sits behind the delicate, athletic piano and the slower, more grandiose strings that make up the titular opener.
What makes their sound stand out from a lot of the neo-classical acts that currently abound is the unexpected use of beats. The sub-aquatic movement lends a modern, clubby twist to an already hypnotic piece that finds it happily caught between two worlds, very much in keeping with the sentiments of the piece itself.There is a feeling of escape running through the album, with “Seahorse” particularly capturing that sensation of wind rushing through hair, dashing pell-mell in any direction. The keening of the violin is like wind through distant trees and here the lack of beats highlights that sense of longing somehow. The more you listen, it is extraordinary to think that this was recorded by two people in enforced isolation, but that desire with an urgent melancholy is often at play here. The hesitant piano on “Emerging Flight” is like the meeting of two lovers, apart for years, unsure but careful, stepping around one another and gradually allowing the feeling to consume and for hesitation to fall away.
They intertwine beautifully like two dancers running headlong with a grace that belies the tempo, and when they are joined by singer YVA on “Midnight Bird”, she manages to really evoke the yearning that plays throughout the album. Amy Holford‘s words suits the dreamy, hazy backdrop and as her slow voice intones, ” Last night I woke to a beautiful sight”, you really feel the warmth of the images surround you. Their interaction is never less than lovely; on “Lucid Dreaming” the piano is vibrant while the violin, with assistance from Philip Thimm on cello, provides earthier swells of emotion.We can be thankful for the interspersing of beats amongst the tracks, if just to shake a little something extra into the proceedings; in fact, the surge of hope that overtakes “Forest Whispers” as it progresses feels intensely uplifting. As does happen from time to time on this album, it comes to a surprisingly abrupt ending, leaving the listener crying out for more. But it is the last track “Awakening” that lends the air of finality; the beats are forceful and the violin is urgent, but the use of electronics here help to push the piece further into modern realms. As the tempo quickens, so the end appears in sight, disappointing but necessary.
Chrysalis is a lovely emotional journey that covers so much ground in its thirty-odd minutes that it feels far longer. In some respects, I wished it was; but on the other hand, it leaves you wanting more and that can be no bad thing.-Mr Olivetti-
