A Slender Song, the second solo album from Seán Mac Erlaine, is a compilation of choice live improvised recordings at gigs in Ireland over four years.
Across ten tracks, Mac Erlaine moves in a slow fashion, building gasping melodies, droning lines, threadbare ambient electronics and flushes of majestic horn passages puncturing the silence (Mac Erlaine plays alto/ soprano saxophones, clarinet and bass clarinet).
The journey undertaken to record these tracks are hinted at in titles: ‘Dingle’, ‘Onstage Swoon’ and ‘Nun’s Island’ in Galway for three.
A Slender Song is the result of those journeys. It’s an exercise in restraint yet has has imaginative limits. It creates a space that has knowledge of modern jazz, improvisation techniques, electronica and folk but bows to none.
The album is below for listening. It’s released on Ergodos on orange vinyl on Friday. Buy it here. The album is launched Wednesday, 26 November, at the Little Museum.
Artwork by Craig Carry.
