GLEB KOLYADIN

Water Movements GLEBKOLYADIN.BANDCAMP.COM

Iamthemorning piano man returns with understated solo pieces.

Iamthemorning pianist and songwriter Gleb Kolyadin’s second solo album comprises spontaneous sketches and cinematic pieces. He’s at pains to emphasise it’s “a serene pause” and selfreleased fundraiser while he prepares the next “big” album. In fact its sparse beauty is emotionally huge, and fans of his Russian chamber prog duo will embrace its melancholy magic as another golden dawn. Its quietness speaks volumes.

Images of water and the creative flow helped him along, and the music, collectively, does what the best instrumentals do: conjuring up in the mind’s eye a film not yet made. With Kolyadin effectively playing a solo concert, he’s joined fleetingly on guitar by co-producer Vlad Avy.

The result is personal, yet deeply resonant. There’s an accumulative effect to the pieces: Sea Song and High Tide possess hints of Satie or Part, while Frozen Light finds both drama and pathos within two and a half minutes.

Iamthemorning are no strangers to the epic, but they also burrow into intriguingly intimate corners and this album taps into that quality while never denying the listener a fair share of dark, stirring, Petersburgian romance.