The debut release from the trio of Chris Abrahams (piano), Clayton Thomas (bass & preparations), & Miles Thomas (drums & percussion), Words Fail is an intergenerational meeting of the minds.
Despite the quintessential trio format, the sound world subverts the instrumentation across four expansive improvisations. Beginning with a lone piano note, repeating like droplets of water on a glassy lake, the interwoven textures of Clayton Thomas’ prepared double-bass & Miles Thomas’ foley-like percussion - sounding on occasion like something out of Xenakis’ Pithoprakta - soon attempt to pull things into deeper, darker waters.
credits
released September 10, 2021
Recorded by Richard Belkner at Free Energy Device, Sydney
Mixed by Miles Thomas
Mastered & cut by Helmut Erler D&M, Berlin
Painting by Amanda Tsioutis
Design & layout by WBYK
You'd think that the statement "this is the work of amazing musicians playing together" should apply to everything that I choose to listen to, but I still feel the need to emphasize it here. Four songs, 17-21 minutes each, and every moment is alive with intensity, filled with atmosphere, shrouded with energy that pulls you forward even in the most repetitive or simplistic moments. Travel is dramatic, in the calmest, coolest way, and it is very good. rvss.eel
Tasmanian guitarist Julius Schwing embraces the visceral sounds of finger playing, incorporating them into his experimental guitar work. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 8, 2022
This is a wonderful, diverse album. Not sure "Costume" is my favorite track but it is a beautiful track. The short piano lines ring against a shifting background that give portions the feel of a concerto, except here the orchestra is replaced by sounds of a world like and unlike ours. Much better than the morose slow march approach to ambient music. jly54