Poppy Ackroyd - Resolve (One Little Indian Records) 2018
7
Without a doubt, Poppy Ackroyd’s neo-classical music is a delight to listen to. The London-born composer, who is known for her multi-tracked pairings of piano and violin, manages to prove that again on her latest disc. There is a broad but saturated market for melancholic piano music, which Ackroyd readily caters to, yet what sets her apart from fellow contenders is a rhythmic sensibility that is comparable to that of German composer and pianist Hauschka, which is further elaborated upon by the addition of frantic layered instruments like the violins on the song Light, or the flapping clarinet keys on “The Calm Before”.
Throughout the album, Ackroyd’s velvet fingers softly glide up and down the clavier, playing notes soft as honey and almost drowning among the layered strings. Perhaps Ackroyd’s playing is more effective on more sparsely accompanied pieces like “Feathers” from the 2015 album of the same name, but with its rich production values giving way to expansive instrumentation, Resolve is a distinct move forward from Ackroyd’s previous work, both in songwriting and arrangement. All in all a nice record to play on those melancholic winter afternoons or lush autumn mornings.