The lockdown projects just keep on coming to prove the old adage that necessity is the mother of invention,
This 38 minute album is the consequence of a gifted artist being holed up in the company of his guitar and piano to maintain some degree of sanity. It’s mainly a solo work but includes a few choice musical conversations.
David Grubbs is under no pressure to prove himself so can indulge himself in art for art’s sake. Over more than four decades he has released fourteen solo albums and appeared on more than 200 releases. He was one half of the duo Gastr del Sol with Jim O’Rourke and his lesser known projects include being part of Bastro (a power trio) and post-punk combo Squirrel Bait.
For the looping elegance of The Snake on its Tail Grubbs called upon regular collaborators Andrea Belfi on drums and Nate Wooley on trumpet. Wooley can also be heard on Queen’s Side Eye
The delicate Hung in the Sky of the Mind is the longest and best track The seven minutes of Grubbs on piano duetting with Welsh harpist Rhodri Davies gives this track a beautifully quiet and graceful quality.
The most discordant piece is an eerie four-minute sound collage enigmatically entitled Later in the Tapestry Room. This sounds like offcuts of something that started out intending to be more lyrical.
With shades of experimental ambient and understated post-rock the eight instrumental pieces often sound like sketches for something bigger but they are no less engaging for all that.
Titles like Poem Arrives Distorted and Syncro Fade Pluck Stutter Slip reflect a difficulty staying focussed and creatively inspired. The first of these includes haunting cello parts by the Greek improviser Nikos Veliotis, the second has a sinister quality as if to serve as a reminder of the darkest moments of the pandemic nightmare.
