More Light
The new album from cellist/composer Brent Arnold
Produced by Randall Dunn
Preview it here: https://s.disco.ac/mqhwnyjcrzqz
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Shaped by spectral drones and heavy electroacoustics upon minimalist frameworks, cellist Brent Arnold’s new album More Light is a sublime journey through architectures of sound.
01 An Arch feat. Jessica Pavone (viola)
02 Charcoal feat. Eyvind Kang (viola d’amore), Alaina Ferris (harp), Mark Dover (bass clarinet)
03 Sky Blue feat. Joshua Modney (violin)
04 Cathedral Cycles feat. Alaina Ferris (harp), Finnegan Shanahan (violin, viola)
05 Shifter feat. Rob Aiki Aubrey Lowe (voice)
06 Arcs feat. Rob Aiki Aubrey Lowe (voice)
07 Soft, Soft feat. Gelsey Bell (voice)
Recorded in NYC at Circular Ruin
Mixed at Circular Ruin by Randall Dunn
Brent Arnold spent formative years as a student of both legendary jazz violinist Michael White (Pharoah Sanders, Sun Ra, Roland Kirk, John Handy), and Walter Gray, the original cellist of the Kronos Quartet. On More Light, he combines his wildly original approach to his instrument with the heavy sonic intensity that producer Randall Dunn brought to records by artists like Sunn O))) and the score to Panos Cosmatos’ Mandy. With layered cellos and synthesizers, and contributions from some of the most notable artists in contemporary music, the result is a supernal, disquieting beauty that moves between the ambient and the ecstatic.
The seven compositions on More Light patiently open, transform, bloom, and collapse, with the contributions of some of contemporary music’s most brilliant instrumentalists. “An Arch” contrasts massive slabs of cello against flickerings harmonics while Jessica Pavone’s viola weaves around them. On “Charcoal”, Eyvind Kang is exquisite on the viola d’amore, a baroque instrument whose drone strings resonate ominously with Alaina Ferris’ harp and Mark Dover’s bass clarinet. “Sky Blue” reaches upwards on Modney’s soaring violin. On “Cathedral Cycles”, layers of harp are intertwined with driving synthesizer arpeggios and a violin solo from Finnegan Shanahan. Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe’s ghostly vocals haunt the cinematic, ever-evolving “Shifter” and the sci-fi planetscape of “Arcs”. A delicate skittering of bowhair on string starts “Soft, Soft”, building to an overwhelming cascade as Gelsey Bell’s soprano soars above.
As a sonic architecture, More Light is a sacrament to spaciousness. Marked by Dunn’s heavy sonic signature, Arnold’s evocative compositions create a luminous world that oscillates between the infernal and the sacred.
Contact: audiofriction@gmail.com / brentarnoldmusic.com