SIMON SCOTT
Depart, Repeat
SEVENPIECESPIECEONE
Sonic Pieces 2011
02 Tracks. 10mins48secs
Format: 7”

Boomkat: 7″

In recent years, Simon Scott has produced some particularly haunting instrumental pieces, but for the inaugural release on Sonic Piece’s new seven-part series of lusciously packaged seven inch singles due to be released in the next few months, he has opted for a different approach. Recorded in his own studio in Cambridge and at Nils Frahm’s Durton studio in Berlin, and the result of a series of health scares which eventually proved false alarms, the two songs that make this release are delicate folk songs miles apart from the haunting textured soundscapes of his previous works.

Scott plays guitar, xylophone and electronics and vocals here, while Frahm provides additional piano, synths and glockenspiel. Fuelled by the worries undoubtedly spurned by his situation at the time, the songs deal with loss and hope and are expectedly sombre in tone, yet there is also an element of light which infuses both pieces. Of the two, Never Alone is the more fragile and stripped down song, Scott’s voice and guitar placed firmly in the foreground, with delicate electronic brushes forming in the background. Momentum gathers towards the end to give the piece a sumptuous ethereal feel, but it is in its earlier stage that Scott really captures the imagination. The melody is simple and straightforward, supported by a delicate acoustic guitar two-note motif, with Scott‘s voice appearing at once soft and powerful.

Left Behind The World is a more ambitious piece, served by a strummed acoustic guitar, rich piano tones and delicate xylophone touches, which all swell up for the chorus. Once again, Scott is found in pretty ethereal mood here, and while the verses are sharper and more contrasted than on Never Alone, the quietly anthemic chorus is rather stunning. In the later instrumental part of the song, Nils Frahm’s piano becomes much more prominent, with just a smear of electronics far in the background.

As unusual as it is in Simon Scott’s repertoire, Depart, Repeat is a very successful effort which shows a different side of his musical persona. Whether he intends to develop this further or not, this single shouldn’t be missed. As all Sonic Pieces releases, this is only available in a small run of 300 copies.

4.5/5

Simon Scott | Simon Scott (MySpace) | Sonic Pieces
Boomkat: 7″