Roger Eno
★★★★
Without Wind/ Without Air
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON. DL/LP
Composer and pianist leaves comfort zone, with striking results.
Roger Eno released the disappointingly insubstantial Mixing Colours with brother Brian in 2020 and the superior The Turning Year, a piano-led chamber ensemble album, in 2022. But he still felt his music had become overfamiliar and vowed to challenge himself more. Here, soprano Grace Davidson’s wordless vocals and incantations float eerily over sinuous strings with Eastern glissandi on Forgiveness, and on the title track Eno’s elegant piano feels threatened by dissonant synth drones and grumbling bass clarinet, producing a haunting, disconcerting mood.