»Mosaics«

Andrew Chalk’s album »Mosaics« is made up of 36 scene-pieces with a strong drone influence. Incidental music, or »Inzidenzmusik«, is present in these sections, coinciding with a general form. Mark Lubbock had written that one type of incidental music is that which has not been specifically composed to be included in a theatrical act or, we might imagine, a film, although it maintains a certain subsidiary character. The magic of this album is a bit of a reminder of this independent quality, which, while it may refer us to the imagery of a complete, gestalt scene, should not prevent us from imagining Chalk’s music, on this occasion, as already sounding within the undulating lines of the artistic action. Reaching the piece »XXV« of the conceptual album, there is something that still holds pressure: the impulse of the drone, philosophically musical. Insisting, pushing, maintaining the halo to draw those reflective mosaics through which the composer leads us. Those radiant paintings of words, of bluish flecks and déjà vu, which scatter like synesthetic notes, then fall like drops, and begin again in another piece. Towards the end, the engines take off into another kind of sonic space, the flashes become continuous and sparkle with a certain tranquillity. That unsettling serenity characteristic of other albums. Nostalgia, suddenly, provides some touches like scenes lost in the unconscious. Living in a time where music and culture stealthily evaporate everywhere, without knowing how or why, it is interesting to appreciate compositions with the attention and curiosity with which one listens to life, or, as Heidegger explained, from that state of mind fundamental to the experience of what exists within us – there, in that beautifully assembled mosaic that we are when we experience music and vibrate with it. This is how in »XXXVI«, we see the shining star of this space voyage from various angles. The frequency travels and expands, attempting to achieve a certain sense of immensity, of incompleteness… It elegantly approaches and expands. The sound lights flicker as the incident drone captures the mirage’s trail, and the entire scene ultimately refreshes the spirit with a certain peace.