Jazz Music News, Press Releases - Elliot Galvin The Ruin (Gearbox)

Sometimes you just need some trippy music from an artist who’s painting well outside the lines in bright, bold colors. Enter Elliot Galvin, a sound-surfing keyboardist, composer and improviser. Galvin is well-known in his native England through four previous leader recordings as well as his associations with Shabaka Hutchings, Emma-Jean Thackray, Norma Winstone and many more. The album title comes from “the ruins we live with, how we can construct something new from the ashes of what came before, but first we must burn it down, the creative act of destruction,” says Galvin in press notes for the recording. And from that, the album takes on a film noir soundtrack vibe, beginning with “A House, A City,” which employs some cool synth sounds and studio effects sliding into some beautiful solo piano work performed on the first instrument he played as a child. “Still Under Storms” delivers a bit of avant punk nuance with killer, intense synth statements along with a simple, vibrate-your-bones bass line from Ruth Goller (who also delivers some neat atmospheric vocalese elsewhere on the album) and a stanky drum line by Sebastian Rochford. The aforementioned Hutchings makes a guest appearance on several tracks, like the grooving “Gold Bright” (a highpoint of this album) and “High And Wide,” a truly wonderful, atmospheric breath of exploring space with minimalism. Compare that to the bombastically loud “As If By Weapons,” which pulls no punches while indulging in Galvin’s sheer joy of, well, making noise. You can almost see him smiling as this one dives into your ears and stays there, especially with its almost church-like ending. Throughout the recording the Ligeti String Quartet plays a major role — sometimes accenting and tweaking through a tune like “In Concentric Circles,” other times quietly guiding listeners to a more thoughtful space, as on “Giants Corrupted.” If you’re looking for easy listening, you won’t find it here. Elliot Galvin is an explorer with great vision. He has something to say to the world in a voice that is distinct, thoughtful and appealing to listeners who like their music with a double shot of experimentation.