In an industry full of explosive overnight successes, it is rare and refreshing when a musician arrives slightly more of an enigma, with a quiet determination and sincerity to make art—and a simple dream in their heart. Oftentimes, this type of artist displays a strong desire to think outside of the box in order to realize a specific artistic vision.
London-born Poppy Ackroyd is a perfect example. Now based in Edinburgh, the composer has many years of classical training behind her in both violin and piano. Learning music in such a rigid academic environment may seem daunting to some, but Ackroyd is clearly distinguishable from many classical musicians. Her desire for reinvention has allowed her to branch out and create something wholly new and original. This came in the form of her debut album Escapement (Denovali Records, 2014).
Behind the layers of lush, atmospheric instrumentation on Escapement is a strange but remarkable story of an artist determined to reinvent the wheel—and drag beautiful music out from within it. Inspired by contemporary piano composers, but personally dissatisfied with the limitations of the instrument, Ackroyd went deeper, literally taking the piano apart to find what original sounds could be made from its insides.
Every sound heard on Escapement was made by blending piano and violin–played conventionally–but the innards of the piano proved to be equally useful at laying the bricks for a unique and groundbreaking record. Equal parts melodic and discordant, the album has many captivating twists and turns, yet manages to tell a cohesive, linear story all the same.
Due to the variety of percussive lines working alongside one another and the overall complexity of the project, Ackroyd made the decision early on that she would need to learn how to record and produce her album on her own. She wasted no time in purchasing the necessary equipment and setting up camp in her home studio to begin work on the project. She purchased the aforementioned grand piano—which had been terribly neglected, but came back stronger than ever after a loving restoration–but also a laptop, digital recording equipment, high-quality speakers, and one solitary microphone, which she used to record everything you hear on the album.
Each of the record’s seven dream-like tracks feature methods both conventional and unconventional, such as pizzicato riffs created by scraping and plucking the strings within the cavernous depths of Ackroyd’s formerly neglected grand piano. Hands, cymbals, and drumsticks were often used to help coax new and interesting sounds from the frame, the strings, or the dampers of the piano. A new life was breathed into traditional piano melodies and chords through the use of plucking, scraping, tapping, and beating the insides of the instrument.
One listen-through of Escapement is likely not enough to capture its entire essence. Its ethereal, trance-like quality is deeply relaxing, almost meditative. You may miss out on some of the more subtle intricacies during your first experience with it. But if you were to take this album apart as Ackroyd took apart her piano to make it, each sound would begin to sound very intentional, and Ackroyd’s careful attention to detail would be evident. If you listen very closely, it is also possible to pick up on a few stray field recordings, the only sounds on the record that were not created by a traditional musical instrument.
Through a combination of tried-and-true techniques of classical composition and inventive thinking, Ackroyd stands as a perpetual source of inspiration to every restless young student of music who has ever been told that one should first learn the rules before breaking them.
Publisher’s Note: We have a strict policy to review albums only released within one year, but we made an exception for Carly Bush’s excellent review of Poppy Ackroyd’s timeless album Escapement. Poppy Ackroyd’s latest collaboration with visual artist Lumen will be out on September 26, 2014 via Denovali.
See the visual collaboration at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMy0bT1OgWk
Artist: Poppy Ackroyd
Album: Escapement
Genre: Classical, Piano, Ambient
Label: Denovali
Release Date: December 2012
From: Edinburgh, U.K.
Members: Poppy Ackroyd
Artist Website: http://www.poppyackroyd.com
