The sum. The parts. The process. Christina Vantzou’s latest album – her third, as the title suggests – is an album whereby the process is an integral factor in assimilating the parts to conjure the sum. And by ‘conjure’, I mean it in the sense that the 14 pieces which comprise the album feel more like they’ve been forged by mystical, magical means, simmered in a cauldron of the mind, rather than simply having been played and recorded.
As the press release explains, ‘Album “Nº3” from Christina Vantzou is the result of a two-year process of composing, arranging, rearranging, experimenting, and melding classical instruments with synths and electronics.’
Whereas its predecessor, ‘No2’ was an overtly ‘instrumental’ album, in which the electronics were utilised to discreetly augment and accompany the classical instruments ‘No3’ very much feels like the acoustic and he synthetic have been melted together through a kind of sonic alchemy. The process…
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The process involved a 15-piece ensemble of strings, horns, woodwinds and micro-choir, although you’d be forgiven for not realising this while listening to the soporific, drawn-out elongated drones which gradually turn and spin in slow-mo. The result is a sound which is immense, but also subtle, nuanced and detailed.
Christina Vantzou Online
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