Micha Acher is above all a founding and fundamental part of Notwist, but he is also a member of the Tied & Tickled Trio, of the Alien Ensemble, as well as half of the duo Ms. John Soda. Composer and multi-instrumentalist, he has chosen to draw on his varied repertoire to give shape to his solo debut, a first work that is not exactly solitary. For the creation of “Henry And The Ghosts Songbook” he made use of a real ensemble with which to radically remanipulate the scores written for the different realities of which he is part.
With electronics reduced to the bare bones, the path chosen is that of a purely acoustic chamber music which lets the variety of instruments involved stand out, from his susaphone to the ensemble of wind instruments, guitar, banjo, piano and rhythm section. A re-arrangement work that leaves very little of the originals, moving on melancholic atmospheres structured on sly rhythms, yet capable of maintaining a light tone and creating a pleasant listen. “Radio Four” with its gentle pace and the brass instruments held in check, the placid development of “34E” with the low reverbs acting as a module are perfect examples of the general imprint of the album.
However, it would be wrong to imagine “Henry And The Ghosts Songbook” as a uniform, basically boring itinerary. “When Hamlet Left Town” opens with electronics with ghostly features that introduces and accompanies the guitar, the banjo of “Modest Farewell” has a good cinematic quality, “Aelita” with the presence of the toy piano has a chorality that is both sad and playful. Of course, fifteen tracks are still a lot for an album that is certainly diversified, but entirely based on a single expressive modality. A skimming would have made the listening more fluid, leaving the versatility of Archer's writing in the foreground.
06/30/2026
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
