Various Artists - Piano Cloud Series (Vol. 1-5) (2016-2020)

With the imminent release of Piano Cloud Volume One, 1631 Recordings have produced an essential piano collection featuring some of the finest contemporary pianists working in ambient and modern classical music today, including Nils Frahm, Anna Rose Carter, Library Tapes and Peter Broderick.

‘Nils Has a New Piano’ starts the record off in very dreamy territory. As per usual, Frahm’s style is effortlessly fluid, highly memorable and beautifully deep; you can tell it’s a Nils Frahm piece right away. Gentle arpeggios flow along ‘Running by the Roads, Running by the Fields’. It’s a sublime piece that blends a soft light and a scattering of shadows. Slightly frosty tones have to work at a quicker tempo in order to keep themselves warm. The notes provide the oxygen needed to keep the music’s circulation in a stable and healthy state as they run.

Darker points of light indicate a fading sunset that slips over the edge of the Earth as the black and white keys are played. ‘Eyes Closed and Traveling’ is appropriately titled, because it’s just what the music does. You’re taken on a tranquil journey. The piano has a soothing tone, as placid as a cool lake, but when she’s in the mood she can also rival a heavy metal riff in terms of intensity. Sensitive, appropriate playing is the order of the day here, gently squeezing emotion out of the notes like juice from a sun-ripened orange. The contemplative melodies can only just keep their eyes open, though.

Anna Rose Carter’s ‘Unstitch’ is a livelier piece that dips and ascends over the valleys of the piano’s rolling melody. A single note, used as a pedal point, keeps the rhythm steady, supporting the skeleton and the spine of the piece and also gifting the melody some privacy where it can gently rest its soft muscles. Later on, the soft, unfocused effects of reverb gently sway against the music, and reversed notes turn back in on themselves. Like shadows in the night they largely remain hidden, baring only a sliver as a beam of artificial light sinks into the corner. The kindness of the dawn filters into ‘In the Morning I’ll Be With You’. The light is an infant who hasn’t yet fully opened her eyes. Tender and shrouded in warmth, the piano cradles the light. She can rest here, safe from anything, protected by the soft fabric of the music.

An autumn breeze flutters melodies this way and that. The leaves bent before the wind swing back after the wind has ceased. Endless Melancholy’s ‘November’ is a sparse track, opening and closing timidly, the bare branches reflecting the still abandonment of winter. Everything departs. It’s an impressive piece, and it’s good to see more and more ambient artists emerging fully into the light. It feels unfair to pick out certain tracks, but the collection takes a specific route and some of the pieces act as signposts along the way. The quality is second to none, and every piece is worth your time. With twenty piano pieces on offer, Piano Cloud Volume One is a lovely, comprehensive and considerable release that will please every piano lover. Piano Cloud Volume One arrives on the 11th of March.