Review: Nomieye - Tapestry of an Echo (Self Release) [New Age / Jazz]
*** This blog post first appeared in TSMM's September 9th Newsletter, where you can get all the tips (and more) first ***
Rosie Turton has been floating, swinging and grooving around TSMM headquarters since her auspicious Rosie's 5ive debut EP from 2019. Refreshingly/frustratingly, she’s been in no hurry to put out releases, preferring an algorithm-displeasing, quality-over-quantity approach.
I already shouted about the first single over at the blog, and I’m happy to report that the finished EP lives up to all expectations. Turton’s ambient ambition was first hinted at with 'Stolen Ribs', the atmospheric opener to her debut EP, which then got its swing on for the remainding tracks. She then made every musician’s nightmare come true by replacing the band with her modular machine friends for the mood-exploring, percussion-free sophomore collaboration with singer Miryam Solomon, the vocal abstractions raised on an ambient electronic bed, then variously intertwined, ignored by, or prodded with Turton’s trombone.
I’m not quite sure what has happened with Turton’s straighter jazz ambitions, which have been conspicuous by their absence since Rosie’s 5, but it seems fitting that a new moniker, Nomieye, has risen from the void to celebrate her modular synth awakening, and it certainly sounds like she’s seen the light and is heading in the right direction. The new EP has a bright-eyed, blissful air; the machines are positively glowing as they radiate enlightenment, love and wonder; particularly apt considering the EP’s inspiration is the memory and history embodied in mountains and nature.
The EP starts with an electronic whisper, fellow synths gradually adding some twinkle to the reflective trombone as bracelet bells add a Far-Eastern spiritual air to the eventually cascading, universal consciousness exploring frequencies. It’s a blissful beauty, and I’m guessing I won’t be the only convert. The TSMM-noted And Is Phi is a welcome guest on 'Sun In River', her warm, softly opined guidance initially barely touching the electroacoustic frequencies before being looped then lost in the more dramatic finale. And breathe. The sounds of nature, and shaken not struck percussion lurk in the background of a minimal, rhythmic synth refrain on `Solitary Canyon', as a beaming Turton slips her barely blown horn into the soundscape, but prefers to focus on conjuring up another transcendent synthscape. The aptly named, 'A Sense of In-Between' finds a more even electroacoustic balance, the initially quivering horn plucking up courage and standing taller in the mix. New age vibes permeate all tracks, but are then nudged to the fore to see this serene transmission out, with her bone set to stun, the machines to hypnotise and the vibe to radiant. It’s a genuinely lovely EP, and what I said in the blog is worth repeating, 'This is seriously calming, beautifully crafted, reflection-encouraging music for a world gone crazy.'
If this is hitting your ambient jazz meets new age sweet spot then you should check out what John Thayer is doing.
