Ant Law & Alex Hitchcock - Same Moon In The Same World (2022) Hi Res

Described as both a “game changer” and an “innovator” by The Guardian, Ant teams up with tenorist Alex Hitchcock (‘an incredible saxophonist, with something very unique and original to say’ – Walter Smith III) for their first album as joint leaders. It’s the first of many projects they have planned together; here, both players bring four compositions to the table, developing and shaping them in tandem before sending them across the globe.

The album takes its name from a line in Japanese author Haruki Murakami’s 1999 novel Sputnik Sweetheart: “we’re both looking at the same moon in the same world. We’re connected to reality by the same line.” That quote became a neat summation of the lockdown experience shared by musicians across the world, and this connection to others in a similar predicament became a theme running through the music Hitchcock and Law were writing. “I think this is one of the reasons the album is so melodically driven – we were trying to connect directly with people, rather than search and explore more abstract ideas.” But there’s more to the album than sweet melodies, the duo is searching for universal truths – musical language, human experience, emotional maturity – shared by musicians on different corners of the planet. Or, as they put it, “from our unique vantage points, we are all staring at the same moon.”