Garreth Brooke is a British/German musician based in Frankfurt with a multi-faceted CV. Releasing his own music under the name Garreth Broke, his songs have garnered millions of streams and been performed in venues all around Europe. Garreth is also very active in the arena of sheet music from writing & publishing to curating a project called Upright which has featured a wide range of award-winning, popular, and educational composers. He even holds teaching credentials from the Royal Conservatory of Music and has taken up writing album reviews for the venerable blog A Closer Listen (no competition here folks – we cheer each other on!).
Garreth’s newest EP which comes out in a few weeks features the collaborative side of his work with a collection of reworks of a solo piano piece called “Hiding” which was first appeared on Healing (1631 Recordings, 2019) which he developed with his partner visual artist Anna Salzman.
Whenever Garreth returned to the piece or played it in concerts, he kept having new ideas for it, as if the piece itself were telling him that it wanted to grow. This prompted him to invite a group of musicians whose work he admires to create a series of reworks of this composition, encouraging them to be as adventurous as they liked.
Hiding (Reworks) features six new interpretations of the song with Garreth’s own rework on a felted C. Bechstein upright piano juxtaposed with beautifully reimagined versions from ondes Martenot player & multi-instrumentalist Josh Semans, clarinetist Ruby Lulham aka Clariloops, as well as musician/composers Jakob Lindhagen and Sofia Nystrand, aka Vargkvint who also sings new lyrics by Anna Salzman on one of the tracks.
It is Jakob and Sofia’s interpretation I am very happy to feature here in an exclusive premiere ahead of its release as the EP’s third single. The song is rightfully described by the label as ‘exhilarating’ with kantele, zither, harmonium, electric organ, wordless vocals, and synthesizers deployed to create a wintry, atmospheric backdrop for its patient progression toward a euphoric, swirling crescendo. The piece is emblematic of the way in which each of the reworks finds expansive new possibilities far beyond the diminutive charm of the original on this lovely EP.
Links: Bandcamp | Garreth Brooke | piano and coffee records
Hiding (Reworks) comes out on the 3rd of March, featuring artwork by Anna Salzmann and graphic design by Celia Bayo.
Stationary Travels 