Talvihorros – Music In Four Movements – Hibernate Recordings

Artist: Tavihorros

Title: Music In Four Movements

Label: Hibernate Recordings

Cat No.: HB13

Format: CD – Edition of 200 copies

Hibernate Recordings once again provides a creative outlet for a relatively unknown, but extremely talented, musician. Talvihorros is Ben Chatwin, a composer from London and his brand of music is at once very listenable yet strangely abstract at times. I would hesitate to call this experimental to be honest as it’s far more fluid and melodic than that would imply. It simply features four beautifully put together compositions that form a very engaging album indeed.

Beginning with the two-part loveliness of ‘A Continual Echo Of The Sound Of Loss’, the scene is quickly set with some wonderfully evocative initial drones and soundscapes which are joined by a series of guitars textures, gradually filling out, moving onwards and adding layers of intoxicating melody – sad melody, certainly, but all the more beautiful for them. It’s a tough sound to describe as it lies somewhere between the organic electronic and a more, dare I say, progressive sound. And when I say progressive I mean that in a good way. There’s something about the hypnotic base sounds – the gentle guitar arpeggio, the swelling chords – and the way everything flows over these building blocks that really charmed me immediately and became more enchanting with each subsequent listen.

Part II adds in a more electronic style with synth sounds delivering the main meat of the chord structure and a fair amount of the melody. Again, it’s the subtle and low-key use of tone and a seemingly endless selection of layers that really brings everything together so well. After a first half that’s full of movement the second half eases into a more flowing ambient section with those sweet synths taking over pretty much completely and from there it slowly ebbs away into a looped chord and reverb-laden plectrum hits. It’s a lovely piece.

Segueing seamlessly into the third track you’re instantly struck by the subtle change in tone. It begins in an almost Celer-esque style with a luscious drone that, once again, is added to piece by piece over the course of the next 8 minutes. A mournful strum of the guitar here, an echo-drenched chord there, every note sitting in exactly the right place. Come the halfway mark the pieces start drifting away until at the end you’re left with a restless texture that fades away with the sound of footsteps on gravel accompanying it. There’s something rather haunting about this part of the album and, no surprises, it’s one of my favourite sections.

The final work is a shorter track that gives the album a nicely rounded out feeling. This is a pure slice of melancholy that, to these ears, has a lot in common with the works of Phelan and Sheppard. It features the sort of guitar playing and chord progressions that I find naturally appealing due to their rather sombre, but delicate and fragile feeling. Joined by a single tone, the rest of the music fade out and is replaced by the relaxing sound of lapping water – a fitting was to end as it mirrors the style of a very natural CD all around.

This has been played many, many times and, as mentioned before, I find it hard to do justice to it in words (which is somewhat unfortunate given that I’m writing a review of it!) but it’s an album that gets better and better with each listen in my opinion.

If you enjoy Type Records, Home Normal or Under The Spire this is definitely something you should check out forthwith and certainly has the Remote_ thumbs up of approval!