Chris Abrahams

𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨 𝘼𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙚𝙘𝙠𝙨 𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙖𝙡𝙗𝙪𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙧𝙤-𝙖𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚 - 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙪𝙗𝙙𝙪𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙤 𝙛𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙬-𝙡𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙥𝙤𝙙𝙚𝙨’ 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙟𝙖𝙯𝙯 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙨.

Back in his spiritual home at Room40 two years after ‘Appearance’, Abrahams’ returns to liminal spaces of musical thought, where silvery lines of solo piano and distant pulses weave through detuned bells and organ swells with a dreamlike quality. Where his last album was a more clear-minded solo piano rendition, ‘Follower’ is enhanced with minimalist electronics and loose percussion that lends proceedings an impressionistic quality that calls to mind the otherworldly seduction of Tarkovsky scores or the kind of liminal melancholy Ryuichi Sakomoto has been perfecting for years.

Abrahams’ keys are most elegantly mixed somewhere in the middle-distance against an ultra-fine patina of electronic pointillism and timbral sheen in ‘Costume’, a 13 minute panorama punctuated by spiralling percussive trills that leave an indelibly woozy mark, before the track dissolves into a nervy wash of feedback and distortion. ‘New Kind Of Border’ is more blue and ambiguous, offsetting rattling percussion over a lone parlour jazz pianist in an off world lounge, while ‘Sleep Sees Her Opportunity’ opens with resonant chords x pump organ drone giving way to almost Feldman-esque keys and a rushing bass-pulse heartbeat that connotes a lurking sense of dread in balance with the sublime.

The closing ‘Glassy Tenseness Of Evening’ runs like a companion to Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto’s prized run of collaborations, all precise, rattling electronics cut through with the most pristine, glistening piano motifs - a wistful resolution that gradually ramps up the emotional - and low end - pressure.

Masterful and incredibly beautiful music - late night / solo-immersion highly recommended.