Francis M. Gri – Apart (2018)

Francis M. Gri is a multi-instrumental composer currently residing in Milan, Italy, who also curates the KrysaliSound record label. His previous releases have appeared on his own label as well as Final Muzik and he’s also due an album on US imprint Time Released Sound.
Francis began playing guitar when he was 13 before he also progressed to piano and in time he began to perform as part of his first dark ethereal band ‘All My Faith Lost’. His musical experiences have culminated in his work under his own name since 2010, which straddles the Ambient, Electro Acoustic and Electronic genres. His studio material draws influence from many contemporary artists, such as Taylor Deupree, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Sigur Ros and Ludovico Einaudi.

Apart shares a name with a former production moniker, as Francis compiles recordings made from unpublished works under this name. The material was gathered from a hard-drive backup created between 2003 and 2005 where he found the previously completed tracks would not load due to a technical glitch. Fortunately he had saved the individual sound components so he decided to rework these into new compositions. He decided not to add any additional tracks and set about stretching, detuning, reversing and treating the sounds with effects before he arrived at a set of 2 mid-length pieces. He created a new piece entitled ‘Last’ which was created around the time he was working with ‘In This Room’ and ‘Hidden Reflections’ and originally shared the work as a free download.

Not long after, Francis had sent us his album and we were thoroughly impressed, feeling that these three tracks serve as a cohesive album experience and deserved a physical release.
The longer-form nature of the tracks which loop with folds of subtle emotional detail make for an immersive listening experience that you’ll surely get lost in, as shimmering drones, synth and guitar lines collide effortlessly.