The quintessentially dreamy nature of Mr Randalu’s pianism – indeed his very music itself – is something the like of which one has not heard before; not even in the music of his illustrious ancestor, Avro Pärt, whose presence he seems to evoke every now and then in the powerful, yet sombre tolling of bell-like left hand figures that pursue chorale-like melodies repeated over the droning twisting bass-line. His piano is ceaselessly entwined here by animated, rolling guitar phrases by Ben Monder and punctuated by the (also incessant) beat of the battery of drums and cymbals in a painterly performance by Markku Ounaskari. Through it all there is often as much a sense that each musician’s hands is engaged on daubing a blank canvas bringing a painting of what they see to life, as there is also the elements of something intensely personal in the mesmerising repetitions and subtly varied voice combinations that occur through the mighty flow of this remarkable music.
In a fittingly Breughel-like (or even a Mussorgsky-like) exhibition, gorgeous musical landscapes are unveiled. “Forecast”, for instance, conveys the impression of a shimmering mirage that is there… and not there all at once. Mr Randalu seems to dip his fingers in the moist atmospheric surroundings feeling the oncoming rain. But gradually, largely through a build-up of dynamics and contrasting sonorities, there is a sense that the musical weather has, somehow, been changed. Meanwhile the tenor of “Lumi” (both variations of it actually) are beautiful and potent examples of Mr Randalu’s unique species of highly-charged minimalism. “Sisu” turns one’s eyes to the ground, blanketed, as the title and content suggests, with fluffy snow. It is a bleak melody, infused with bitter-sounding chords. The music is played at an achingly slow pace. But suddenly a skipping figure emerges, played on hi-hat and tattooed on the drums. This change is marked by a series of parabolic runs and arpeggios tumbling in waves of gurgling guitar notes, before the piece slows down to a halt once again.
But in the interim we are treated to “Escapism”, perhaps a monumental dream. Mr Randalu seems to suggest an impression of some moments universally-shared by all while looking into the prism of our individual and collective futures. Then he takes us on a journey marked by rapturous pianism on two magnificent variations entitled “Adaptation” before being transported into the celestial realm with another variation of the weather theme; this time the music depicts a heavy overhang in the moist music of “Partly Cloudy”. The beguiling majesty of “Absence”, the culmination of this seemingly epic socio-psycho-musical adventure is saved for the final moments of the odyssey; an album to absolutely die for…
Track list – 1: Forecast; 2: Lumi I; 3: Sisu; 4: Lumi II; 5: Escapism; 6: Adaption I; 7: Adaption II; 8: Partly Clouded; 9: Absence
Personnel – Kristjan Randalu: piano; Ben Monder: guitar; Markku Ounaskari: drums
Released – 2018
Label – ECM Records
Runtime – 47:18