While the album format is what we most often associate with the immersive listening experience, there is no doubt that just a single piece of music can also have the power to take us on a memorable journey or find an express route to tap into deep wells of emotion. In that spirit, here is a new travelogue post serving up a collection of wonderful stand-alone singles released this year by Aija Alsina, Francesco Berta, Ole-Bjørn Talstad, Frances Shelley (reworked by Vargkvint), Goldmund & Hollie Kenniff, Good Weather for an Airstrike, Nathan Shubert, Lara Somogyi, Robot Koch & Muriël Bostdorp, Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore, and Anna Phoebe.
A brief editorial note: While artists are typically presented in alphabetical order here on the blog, for this article I chose to list them in a suggested listening sequence.
Aija Alsina – “Tuesday”
Latvian pianist and composer for film & television Aija Alsina casts a melancholic spell with this tender and expressive piece she composed while attending a week-long International Composers Residency held last year in Gotland, Sweden. Having organized her ideas from the period by date, Aija chose to name the song from the day of the week it belonged to. If you enjoy this, be sure to follow her Bandcamp as she has just released a second piece from the same series and promised there is more to come.
Francesco Berta – “Summer 89 (Beginnings)”
Order: https://francescoberta.bandcamp.com/track/summer-89-beginnings
Whether leading an orchestra or sitting alone at his piano as he is here, composer & visual artist Francesco Berta has a knack for getting to the heart of the matter with his music. Here he has recorded a lovely new version of a beloved composition released in its original form about 3 years ago. The song’s inclusion here may be cheating just a but as Berta has said this version will end up on a yet-to-be-named album that will be released in the near future, but for now it remains a stand-alone single release for us to enjoy.
Ole-Bjørn Talstad – “Kvilestein”
Order: https://modernarecords.bandcamp.com/album/kvilestein
Right from the off, there is a gentle spring in the step of this lovely solo piano piece by Oslo based musician, composer, & producer Ole-Bjørn Talstad. You can find it on the Moderna Records imprint where Talsted released last year’s full-length album Ferd and a sprinkling of other singles which are the creative fruits of his pursuit of a new creative outlet undertaken at the start of the pandemic.
Frances Shelley – “Sea of Constant Sorrow (Vargkvint rework)”
Links: https://linktr.ee/Vargkvint
Last year composer & pianist Frances Shelley released an album of solo compositions in reaction to the arrival of her first grandchild. Her musical explorations of childlike innocence, joy, and wonder find new life this year in the form of initiations to other artists to rework the material. A sterling example is this version of “Sea of Constant Sorrow” by Sofia Nystrand, aka Vargkvint. Aware of Frances’ ancestral link to Percy Bysshe Shelley, Sofia adds a delightful element to her atmospheric interpretations by reciting excerpts from the works of the British Romantic poet.
The track is inspired by Frances’ ancestor, the romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley who tragically died at sea at the age of 29. I’ve taken the liberty to put his poetry together with the piano of Frances. I think in this time maybe we need more of the romantics to find back to nature and to start to protect it more thoroughly.
Sofia Nystrand
Goldmund & Hollie Kenniff – “Holding Hands”
Order: https://heliosmusic.bandcamp.com/track/holding-hands
While Keith and Hollie Kenniff are deservingly appreciated for their respective solo efforts, they have a long history of musical collaboration going from the shoegaze leaning synth pop of their long running Mint Julep project to more recent collaborations under their own names. This is a particularly lovely single that blends the piano-centric style of Keith’s Goldmund persona and the luminous ambient atmospherics that have graced Hollie’s recent solo releases.
Good Weather for an Airstrike – “I Like It When I’m Driving and You Fall Asleep In The Passenger Seat”
The glowing ambience of this piece from Tom Honey’s Good Weather for an Airstrike serves as the radiant backlight to a warm recollection of a moment of fleeting happiness ensconced in the memory. It is an ephemeral moment of poignant feeling in an otherwise mundane setting and the single format is an ideal way to preserve it in musical amber.
Nathan Shubert – “Maybe Borealis”
Pre-Order: https://nathanshubert.bandcamp.com/track/maybe-borealis
A felted piano, Moog synths, and some delicate field recordings are the simple ingredients Nathan Shubert employs to create a succinct journey of wonder. The piece recorded and mixed in his home studio seeks to capture the feeling of “standing at the edge of infinity” he experienced in Iceland while in search of its lava flows, geothermal springs, and the Northern Lights.
Robot Koch and Muriël Bostdorp – “Beneath Waves”
Links: Robot Koch | Muriël Bostdorp
A lovely side trip taken here by award-winning artist/producer/composer Robot Koch in collaboration with Dutch pianist Muriël Bostdorp whose graceful, oneiric style lends melancholic warmth to an imagined voyage through mysterious wonders.
Lara Somogyi – “jól”
It is good to see that composer & harpist Lara Somogyi has remained active since her wonderful 2022 debut album Exclamation. Following her recent striking instrumental cover Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill”, Lara has just released a new composition, an uplifting piece full of warm ambience that she says wrote with the idea of “exploring & embracing the state of well-being, finding harmony within oneself and the surrounding world”.
Hungarian for ‘well’, it felt meaningful to title this piece in Hungarian as it was also inspired deeply by my family — I feel most nourished and well surrounding community and my loved ones. I hope this piece brings you feelings of whatever well embodies for you.
Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore – “Canyon Lights”
This collaboration between vocalist & producer Julianna Barwick and harpist Mary Lattimore first appeared on a 2021 compilation of electronic music curated by Warner Brothers’ Adult Swim channel. The two artists who are known to tour together picked a Bandcamp Friday following one of their shows in Los Angeles to share it as a single giving more of us a chance to enjoy the ethereal beauty of this miniature gem.
Anna Phoebe – “Sea Drift (meditation version)”
Order: https://annaphoebe.bandcamp.com/track/sea-drift-i-meditation-version
3 years ago, violinist and composer Anna Phoebe took us on enchanting musical journey with Sea Souls, her “deeply personal love letter” inspired by the ocean and the scenic coastline of Kent in South East England. The journey continued with a kaleidoscopic collection of reworks released last year featuring the likes of Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres, Slow Meadow, and AVA bandmate Aisling Brouwer offering up their own imaginative reinterpretations of the music. Last month, Anna offered up this rework of her own which stretches the haunting siren-call melody at the core of the 3-part “Sea Drift” into a beautiful extended meditation.
Stationary Travels 