In calling his new album Anaphora, UK-based guitarist Charlie Coxedge is telling us a great deal about the music it contains. Originating from a Greek phrase meaning “carrying back“, the word suggests a means of expression that relies on patterns of repetition. Most applicable here is its use as a rhetorical device which involves repeating words or phrases for emphasis, often in a rhythmic fashion that makes them increasingly meaningful and memorable – take Dickens immortal “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” for example.
That little etymological diversion is simply to illustrate just how eminently suitable the concept suggested by the title turns out to be for what we are about to hear. Just as in its linguistic and literary applications, the key is rhythmic repetition that builds cohesion and meaning, only in a musical sense.
Taking inspiration from artists like Julianna Barwick, Steve Reich and Talk Talk, ‘Anaphora’ is true to its name, exploring ideas of repetition, development and improvisation…
On three of the EP’s four tracks – the title piece, “Watching Always”, and “Sea (Union) – Coxedge uses unobtrusive beats to lay a working foundation while going on to build a shimmering latticework out of guitar loops that intertwine in repeating patterns, combining and recombining into rotating melodic shapes. “Cosmos (Closing)” on the other hand was entirely improvised in a live setting with loops cascading over one another in a gentle euphoria. While the tracks may have varied slightly in their means of creation, it all fits and flows together quite beautifully. Put another way, if the Golden Ratio had a sound, I think it would not be too far off what Charlie Coxedge has come up with for Anaphora.
Order: https://charliecoxedge.bandcamp.com/album/anaphora
Stationary Travels 