Moves in the Field abandons Kelly Moran’s acclaimed work with prepared piano and instead finds her dueting with her Disklavier (a real but programable, electrocmechanical piano). Gone are the unpredictable percussive elements from earlier work, and instead, keeping up with her impossibly perfect partner pushes her abilities further than ever before.
The auteur’s spiralling patterns are transfixing, her motifs hypnotic and, on opener ‘Butterfly Phase’, not obviously assisted by a hypersensitive reproducing piano. The following track ‘Superhuman’ lives up to its name – the piece would require more hands to play than Moran alone possesses. The machine-like precision is astounding, and while it adds clarity in tone and method, human intention is generously written into the work too. Late highlight ‘Leitmotif’ balances the technically brilliant toplines with a soulful and empathetic underscore. The tracklist walks the same fine line with hard-earned ease.
Part of the beauty of Moves in the Field is the elegance with which Moran establishes a synthesis with the instrument. Using the now infinite layers available to her as a composer, she crafts a curious spectre of human performance. She finds inventive inspiration in the most obscure of places – this collection of delicate and deliberate compositions is another career high for Kelly Moran.
