Composer Isobel Waller-Bridge has scored films and television productions. Her quietly audacious new record, Objects, is one of the most perfectly realized new music releases I've heard in some time. I suppose others would use terms like ambient, but what I hear on Objects is a purposeful minimalism. Still, it's hardly a cold record as it remains subtly thrilling throughout.
"Pillow" unfolds with graceful momentum, while "Glass" finds the composer playing a glass, the tones mixing with the synth lines, and almost glacial forward progression of the composition. "Tapes", a standout, mixes a droning tape loop with scratches and noises to create a nearly claustrophobic effect, even as "Cushion", yes, cushions our comedown. The addition of strings and horns on "Objective Contemplation" allows that track to stand in juxtaposition against some of the others. No longer just found sound, or ambient noise, the material soars in a modest fashion under the sure hand of Waller-Bridge as composer and performer.
Like contemporaries such as Lia Kohl, Isobel Waller-Bridge realizes the importance of silence. What's missing in the pieces in Objects is important, and nearly as important as the sounds offered. The lonely piano in "Shoe", to use one example, provides a plaintive counterpoint to the horns, and distant noise in the track. The stillness of this piece is exquisite, and the whole album is one of the most cohesive things I've heard in this style in ages. Strikingly austere, precise, and smartly put forward, Objects is a stunning work for an attentive and adventurous listener.
Objects by Isobel Waller-Bridge is available from Mercury KX.
More details on Isobel Waller-Bridge via the official website.
[Photo: Bob Foster]