Denovali

Classic/ Piano.

Recommended if you like Hauschka, Nils Frahm or Max Richter.

Poppy Ackroyd is a performer and composer from London, currently based in Brighton. Classically trained on violin and piano from an early age, she studied piano and composition at Edinburgh University before completing a masters degree in Piano Performance. A long-term collaborator with Hidden Orchestra (Tru Thoughts Records | Denovali Records), she also works with other musicians and artists, creating soundtracks for film, dance, physical theatre and radio.

Her debut album 'Escapement' (Denovali Records, 2012) impressed with its delicate, intricate and beautifully atmospheric music, created using only piano and violin (with the exception of a few field recordings). In 2013 Poppy collaborated with visual artist Lumen to create bespoke films for her live performances. Demand from audiences led to a DVD of the music and visuals combined - 'Escapement Visualised' - being released in September 2014.

November 2014 sees the release of her second full-length album 'Feathers', which she will be performing live across Europe in the months following the release. Through studying contemporary classical piano works and listening to electronic music, Poppy began to develop her own compositional style, using conventional pianistic ideas whilst also inhabiting the world of sound beyond the keyboard, using unconventional techniques to 'play' other parts of the instruments as well.

Like 'Escapement', her second album 'Feathers' mostly consists of piano and violin, but the palate of sounds is increased with other acoustic keyboard instruments - including harmonium, clavichord, harpsichord and spinet – and in the string sections Poppy's violin lines are augmented by guest cellist Su-a Lee. Poppy's beloved, restored Blüthner grand piano in her studio is again the backbone of the album, providing most of the melodies, bass lines and percussive sounds. Other material originated from improvised recording sessions at the Russell/Mirrey Collection of keyboard instruments in Edinburgh. Having previously spent time there dismantling different pianos to understand how their mechanisms work and make sound, she was given complete freedom on her own in the museum to experiment with around fifty keyboard instruments from the 16th century to the 19th century.

Selecting a few instruments for 'Feathers' that produced a variety of different timbres, it was again the other sounds these instruments could make that interested her, when treating them as sources for melodic or percussive material. Recordings of unfamiliar sounds, which include brushing/plucking the strings and tapping/stroking the frames or soundboards, are combined with accidental 'imperfect' sounds that come from playing the instrument, such as pedal noise or the sound of harpsichord shutters opening and closing.

There is an intimate feel to the recordings as these older instruments are not designed to project sound loudly, so the microphones were placed very close to capture the minutest detail. Field recordings add to the cinematic and atmospheric quality of the music: chiming wall clocks in Timeless, traffic noise on Roads, and the wave and pebble sounds from Brighton beach in Birdwoman. With its delicate textures, rhythmic intricacy and achingly beautiful melodies, 'Feathers' is the perfect companion for stories of love, loss, hope and migration. 

CD digipak, Vinyl thick gatefold sleeves, 180g vinyl, different vinyl colours.

Tracklisting:
1. Strata
2. Salt
3. Timeless
4. Feathers
5. Roads
6. Croft
7. Taskin
8. Birdwoman