Poppy Ackroyd – Feathers/Birdwoman/Glass Sea (One Little
Indian)
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| Poppy Ackroyd |
Release Date: Out Now
Let’s get this out of the way
now; Poppy Ackroyd plays solo piano pieces that are beautiful and emotive so,
of course, the easy comparison to make is with Ludovico Einaudi which is lazy of
me but also high praise indeed. Anyway, on with the review. The first of these
three tunes, ‘Feathers’ is an emerging, delicate piece that has all the
hesitancy of a hungry squirrel emerging in to the melting snow of Spring in
search of sustenance. It takes a good two minutes for anything resembling a
melody to reveal itself amidst the scattered atmospheric notes. The flurry of
keys is something of a whirl and it is hard not to get swept up in the
cinematic qualities of a tune that tells a story all of its own.
On ‘Birdwoman’ the mood of the
first track is taken on to a new, quieter place that is reflective and almost
introspective. Indeed, if this piece where used in a film this would be the
scene where the lonely and angry old lady would walk around her house and see
it filled with nothing but regret and dust before making the decision to throw
her doors open to the town’s orphans. There is a sprinkled sense of magic to
the notes here that speak of hope blossoming in the most unlikely of places and
we could all do with a bit of that in our lives right now, couldn’t we?
The final track, ‘Glass Sea’, has
a hopeful energy about it as well as a steely determination that makes you want
to get up to watch the sun rise on the first day of the rest of your life. The
neo-classical structure and range of notes is resonant of Tori Amos at her
flamboyant best but this is more about create a mood or an atmosphere than a
song, per se. The key them to all three of these tunes is an elemental and
seasonal vibe that is born in the wild and takes on all the rich sounds,
colours and tones of the great outdoors. Poppy Ackroyd is a fiercely talented
musician with a range of future options sprawled out in front of her from
recording artist to composer to film scorer and all those options are within
her reach.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/poppyackroydsounds/
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