Erik Lankin is a relative newcomer to the recorded classical world, although it goes without saying there were many years of study, something that often goes unmentioned in the press and by today's music gatekeepers. Hailing from Montreal, his debut album as a composer and producer is on the way in early 2025, with most of the tracks (I'm guessing) having already made their way to your favourite streaming site in 2024.
He's also a natural leader of (wo)men, having assembled a crack team of Canadian classical musicians to realise this ambitious, deeply personal and hopefully cathartic new LP - The Icarus Album, which he's created as a metaphor for the struggles and untimely death of his father by suicide due to his bipolar issues.
The new single, "Aloft on Broken Wings" is as moving as you would imagine. The single starts off with studio trickery, reversed effects of unknown provenance, before the deep weeping notes of consummately bowed cello follow the movements of Icarus' flight. The drama is then cleansed by an ambient moment, giving welcome pause for reflection, but it's not long before the second passage nudges us from our thoughts as a violin puts a reassuring arm around Icarus.
It's a most classical tale, and one which I would have a tendency to ignore on most days, but what differentiates Lankin's work from so many of his peers is the subtle sound design and distant, pleasingly detailed soundscape that await the attentive listener, and which gives the familiar orchestration and well worn instruments a pleasing modern frame. Perhaps this ambient backdrop also says nothing stays the same forever? Art and life are in constant flux and rather than dwelling in the past the only sane course is to embrace the infinite possibilities now afforded to us, and chart a brighter, more hopeful course.
Playlist Companion
Find this track and other forward looking neoclassical music in the Slow Neoclassical Playlist:
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