Having archived the dub influences at the basis of their fourth collaboration, Frank Schültge and Nils Frahm direct the new chapter of their long-term project towards electroacoustic territories similar to the sound proposed in their first records together. A return that absorbs what has already been said, seeking a new path whose fulcrum lies above all in the approach and operating methods.
First of all, the form changes: no longer a set of single explorations, but a sort of symphony in three movements that welcomes the entire fruit of improvisations born from a slow preparation process and subsequently assembled and finished with painstaking care. A process centered on an exaltation of detail clearly perceptible in the interlocking of fragments and reverberations left free to float in a basic environment made above all of silence. The virtuous craftsmanship implemented by the two musicians, however, remains too subdued, renouncing the triggering of strident dynamics and the contrasts at the basis of the avant-jazz-tinged formula of the debut. The sensation, listening to the piano/guitar dialogues interpolated by a sample of resonances extracted from a decidedly broad acoustic arsenal, is that the two of us decided to navigate by sight without taking risks.
Everything flows smoothly, but equally without impulses, offering itself as a silent landscape whose grace is weakened by the absence of peaks. An album with a rich sound and essential development, which unfolds as a pleasure to listen to without managing to impress itself with the depth expected from the birth of two prominent artistic sensibilities.
08/10/2025
Antonio Santini for SANREMO.FM
