Neo-classical, as a genre, is a big deal these days, and one of its most interesting exponents, Poppy Ackroyd, has made the step to One Little Indian for this, her third album. Ackroyd is an artist known for her non-conformist approach to producing the actual sounds she makes in her music – various inventive new ways of making a noise with a piano or violin – but that’s of consequence only to the muso geeks amongst us.
For everybody else, the end result, especially so this time around, is something rich, sweeping and enveloping. The string section on ‘Light’ is just magnificent; it carries you with it, inexorably, like a huge wave on an open sea, possessed of huge drama and power. Stylistically, this record doesn’t differ wildly from her work so far, but where it really excels is in its sublime consistency and the range of emotions it engenders. Listen to ‘Resolve’ casually and it’s a wonderful record; but really engage with this music and it’ll reciprocate tenfold.
