Over three years have passed since pianist and cellist Greg Haines released his debut album, Slumber Tides, on Miasmah, and gained praises for his stark minimal modern classical soundscapes. Since, he has played on a number of records, collaborated with Machinefabriek, Wouter Van Veldhoven and Xela, and has formed Liondialer, a project based on improvised experimentations, with long term friend Danny Saul.
Recorded in the Grunewald Church in Berlin, where he currently resides, Until The Point Of Hushed Support, released on Sonic Pieces, is Haines second full length.Unlike Slumber Tides, on which he performed all parts, Haines, who plays piano, organ, cello, guitar, percussions and electronics here, has surrounded himself with a string quintet, a vocalist, a saxophonist and another pianist, Nils Frahm, whose recent album, The Bells, released recently on Erased Tapes, was recorded in the same venue. This gives Hushed Support a very different feel to its predecessor. While Haines has retained much of the density and solemnity of Slumber Tides, particularly on In The Event Of A Sudden Loss, there is here a warmth and energy which is new, and reflects a push into more orchestral territories. Apart for the opening piece Industry vs. Inferiority, all the compositions are over the ten minute mark, with closing track Until The Point Of Least Resistance clocking at just under twenty minutes, allowing Haines to develop haunting motifs and melodies and fine-tune the mood of each composition.
Of the four pieces collected here, Industry vs. Inferiority is perhaps the most minimal and austere. A sombre piano appears to dissolve into the vast reverb of the Grunewald Church, with notes that are, at first, so distant from each other that they sound like random drops of rain, then progressively gather into more substantial clusters of melody. Later on, In The Event Of A Sudden Loss is, at least in its first part, an equally mournful and tensed piece, but here, the sound of a church organ is woven into desolate electronics to create an element of dissonance and build on the angular texture. As strings bring a much brighter tone to the second half, the track gains momentum and amplitude, until Haines brings it back to its original state in its dying minutes.
The epic Until The Point Of Least Resistance operates loosely on the same template, Haines at first working some textures from sparse electronics, as Kristin Evensen Glæver adds some delicate vocals, before making way for beautiful string motifs. Here though, the scope of the piece is much more ambitious and is articulated around vast cinematic sections, some purely textural, others orchestral, until, towards the end, the attention is drawn to a strikingly clear piano. Earlier, Marc’s Descent evokes an equally vast scope, but it is the string formation which is placed firmly into focus here, while organ and electronics appear discreetly in the latter part of the piece.
With this second album, Greg Haines has made the transition between working on his own and composing for other musicians with apparent ease, and has created a particularly stunning soundtrack. Until The Point Of Hushed Silence is a convincing steps forward, but he has retained the essence of his work and has successfully adapted it to an entirely new setting.
4.8/5
