Chris Abrahams - Climb (2016)

The Necks' pianist Chris Abrahams releases his tenth solo album and his fifth solo piano album, Climb. Drawing from a deep reservoir of hundreds of hours of recorded works, the end result is a stunning album of meticulously curated pieces that stretch over a decade of solo piano work from one of Australia's most highly regarded pianists. "Climb is an important work for me," says Abrahams "Over many years I have recorded my solo piano pieces with the intention of releasing a collection as a cohesive album. It's a different way of working from going in to a studio to record a whole album in one go. It has allowed for the progression of time to be reflected in the work." Page 2 of 3 Characterised by Abrahams' free-flowing modal legato and psychedelic, cascading phrasing, Climb unfolds through its seven tracks with a gorgeous fluidity that is both ambient and emotional. Familiar to admirers of Abrahams' mesmeric work with The Necks, in Climb melodic motifs act as starting points, with pieces developing along their own organic trajectories. The shimmering lyricism of tracks such as 'Roller', and 'Beach of Black Stones' is contrasted with the angular velocity of 'Fern Scrapes' and the rhythmic, interlocking patterning of 'Overlap' - with its hypnagogic use of the sustain pedal. In the middle of the sweeping spectrum of mood on Climb, is the final track, 'Shoreline'; its energetic phrasing and dense inner-voice accompaniment providing an uplifting finale. Between Abrahams' last solo piano release Streaming in 2006 and Climb in 2016, Abrahams has, amongst a wide and varied array of other projects, released four solo electro acoustic albums for the excellent Room40 label (most recently the acclaimed Fluid to The Influence) and toured constantly, throughout the world, with The Necks, releasing numerous albums with them. He is currently composing the score for Back to Back Theatre's latest production, Lady Eats Apples.