“Defined by its abundance of melodies, repeating figures and ecstatic improvisations, Soft Power exudes an enlightened and transformative spirit to empower the listener. Feinberg, a practising psychoanalyst and former founding member of the San Francisco psychedelic collective Citay (Dead Oceans / Important Records) resides in the artistic enclave of upstate New York’s Hudson River valley. Initial recordings emerged in the late summer of 2020, before added synthesis with collaborator John Thayer (Arp, Sunwatchers) during early 2021. Soft Power follows previous albums Recumbent Speech (2020) and Pentimento and Others (2018). [...] Feinberg artfully transcends the listener to an enriched place, his compositions distinguished by the deep humanity that lies at their core, plugging the listener into a state of wide eyed being, open and alive. Soft Power then is Ezra’s own mantra but also one of power giving – a colourful catharsis translated into music. Feinberg’s music always speaks to the listener, but Soft Power, in whispering, speaks loudest”. (James Toth)

“Much like everyday life, I wanted to convey these very plain, simple, tranquil, nearly quotidian aspects, but each piece contains this arc in which that form expands, is broken out of, so what starts out like a painting of flowers in a seaside motel turns into a riot of color and sound, or you feel slipped into a dream that feels like it could go on forever” (Ezra Feinberg)

Porträt © Brandon Schulman

“Winds Bells Falls is the meeting between two of New York’s most unconventional musicians, sound artist Lea Bertucci and multi-everything instrumentalist Robbie Lee.  The duo mix colorful free improv with musique concrete, sculpting experimental instrumental noise into a fascinating and even joyful encounter.  On the album Lee plays medieval and baroque woodwinds, celeste (bell keyboard), and tubular chimes, while Bertucci live-manipulates and mangles his playing, hands inside a reel-to-reel tape machine, transforming and regurgitating in real time.

The album begins with “Glitter And Gleam,” where the magical sparkling tones of the warped celeste do just that.  It is an unexpectedly cinematic opening, slowly building to a shimmering and even emotional peak, but that gives no hints abouts where the album goes next.  The three pieces for tape and woodwinds are earthier and dirtier, clusters of noise that unfold like short stories.  These pieces play with arcs of energy, the push and pull between Lee’s source sounds and Bertucci’s radical instant reimagining.  The album is like a dream narrative, sometimes twisted and terrifying but often enchanted.” (Gabriel Birnbaum / Clandestine Label Services)

Foto Amy Mills

@ Telegraph Harp