A new record by Mary Halvorson is on its own always good news. In this case, an unexpected visitor is the next piece of good news: the grand old man of British prog rock and eccentric pop songs Robert Wyatt sings on three of the eight tracks on her new album »Artlessly Falling«. »Smell of grease and mint/glissando, female laughter« are his first words at the beginning of »The Lemon Trees«, while the musicians calmly tune in to what is to come. Although Mary Halvorson does not contribute any glissandi on her guitar, she does provide delicately broken minor chords, with Amirtha Kidambi’s wordless singing in the background. The magic is then made perfect with the improvised climax that follows, including a trumpet solo. Mary Halvorson’s Code Girl, the new formation from the New York guitar scholar, which by and large emerged from the line-up of her 2018 album of the same name, presents itself as a relaxed, adventurous ensemble in which people give each other space to breathe and listen. Conventional-seeming song forms are briefly shaken up every now and then, just as Halvorson’s subdued playing works with small irritations, which even include the glissandi named by Wyatt, which tend to come across jerkily with her, like a momentary dislocation in the soundtrack. Even without the guest from England, this would have been a casual victory, but now we have the surprise coup on top. Occasional rocking out without warning included.
Melos Kalpa
Melos Kalpa
Hands In The Dark