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(2018) Aby Vulliamy - Spin Cycle
Review:
As a music therapist, it’s natural that Aby Vulliamy would consider any sound to be musical. In a recent interview, Vulliamy spoke of each individual as musical, possessing a unique tone, a particular pitch range and their own natural pace, further stating that all communication is based in the elements of music. She spoke of her tendencies to sing along to the drone of a washing machine, to contemplate the mimicry of birdsongs in folk music and how subdividing the rhythms from the ticks of the grandfather clock in her childhood home became second nature before she could remember. Understanding music as something bodily rather than solely a form of expression is how Vulliamy’s songs on Spin Cycle cut through so effortlessly.
Vulliamy’s solo debut was written, produced and recorded over four years in scattered sessions set around work and child-rearing. Trained classically in piano and viola, Vulliamy made her way from Hull to Glasgow in 2004 where she was quickly picked up by a handful of the leading string-centric, folk-sensitive ensembles. The two ensembles she’s most recognized for are The National Jazz Trio of Scotland and Sound of Yell, the second of which led by Stevie Jones who produced Spin Cycle.
Spending her years in Hull backing the voice of other composers or sharing the spotlight, when Vulliamy states “for years, I thought of myself as a purely social musician who couldn’t self-generate,” it’s due to this musical life, one solely existing in performance. After having her daughters, Vulliamy was “able to put words to music,” stating further, “Motherhood turned my life upside down and suddenly, sitting there in the dark, the words just flowed.” Vulliamy turns these words into Spin Cycle and uses them to move away from a supporting role.
Most of the songs are centered around the piano, with a small chamber ensemble as accompaniment. The imagery in the lyrics of Spin Cycle are centered around acts of mothering and caring deeply for something and before anything else. Interludes anchored by viola are injected in between, often quickly escaping into their own worlds. Vulliamy establishes the pace, or rather the tone of each piece, marking tempo in a very rubato fashion throughout, and her ensemble follows her lead. Flowing motifs graft to the songs’ tune, recalling anything from Kate Bush’s bravado gestures, Fiona Apple’s dexterous compositions, Julia Holter’s melancholic, lush textures or Robert Wyatt’s colorful movements. The song structures are lean with verses splintering into refrains and choruses in a deliberate manner, and coy bits of whimsy are laced into the album: the peak of the crescendo on “Rock Me Tender,” possibly the most emotive song on the album, is topped with a bit of singing saw before it dissolves peacefully and a trombone solo parades over as a descending “forever and ever” vocal to end “Forever and Ever Endeavour (Devour).”
Trusting that every person has a musical sense requires a tremendous stock of patience. This patience is reflected in nearly every phrase on Spin Cycle. The chamber dynamic of the album makes it reverberate emphatically; it’s easy to imagine the performers setting up in a close-knit formation, like the half-circle at the core of an orchestra, feeding off the extra-musical expressions from across the way. With Spin Cycle, Vulliamy trusts her fellow performers with her music, understanding their interpretations as part of it too. Slightly timid, its presence is clear and bold. It carries an intimate air, one about understanding control without owning power.
Tracklist:
01 - Spin Cycle.flac
02 - Forever and Ever Endeavour (Devour).flac
03 - Oops Delores.flac
04 - Inside Out.flac
05 - Viola Interlude.flac
06 - This Precious Time.flac
07 - Rising Damp.flac
08 - Rock Me Tender.flac
09 - Good Enough.flac
10 - Fly-Away-Home.flac
11 - Just A Minute, Not Even.flac
12 - Goodbye Song.flac
Summary:
Country: UK
Genre: alternative folk, chamber pop
Media Report:
Source : CD
Format : FLAC
Format/Info : Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : ~ 850-985 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits |
