Dethick by Angharad Davies x Rie Nakajima x Alice Purton

Angharad Davies / Rie Nakajima / Alice Purton | Dethick
Another Timbre (CD/DL)

An interesting trio combining a variety of instrumental practices meet in an old church in Dethick (Derbyshire) and develop ten works in two days, and this is the result. On the latest, Dethick by Welsh improvisational violinist Angharad Davies, Japanese installation/electronic artist Rie Nakajima and London-based cellist Alice Purton a myriad of patterns miraculously emerge, some tangible, others not so much.

Here we have three women, resolute in their individual approach, veering into new territory as then flex in sonic conversation that is at times brisk, and at other moments minimal and perplexing. The incredible bowing on One is like a harrowing night at sea, the boat is rocking. I’m particularly interested in the resonance offered by marbles or some spherical entity on the floor or within bowls that bounces as the faintest strings are plucked throughout the lowercase Different Formation. The singular bell tone at the very end is perfect punctuation as the ear moves towards Finetuning.

©Haruko Nakajima

Here we have a series of crying string, reach out, breaths in between. The way these three harmonize weaves in and around the center, out to the edges and then surprises with cello that sounds like a plane flying overhead, and raspy percussion. And once Next Wet Metal flows into the buzzing Another One there’s a sudden stillness being distilled. In these singular string tones not only can you hear a pin drop, but they are lines in mid air, cutting through the density and previously built tensions.

With all solid intentions there is an undercurrent of unrest, a pre-storm calm, on Third Wet Metal, with its squeaks and low-flyer altitude. It prepares you for Unexpected Directions, and the remainder of this collection. And just when the gurgling jolts and shrill fragmentation start to present themselves this becomes the most abstract musique concrète mix. Through warbling thick nuances, these sonorities are on point and the atmosphere is dotted with quirky, microscopic intonations that fade in and out.