Bill Laurance & The Untold Orchestra - Bloom [LP]

Vinyl LP pressing. An original member of 5-time Grammy Award-winning group Snarky Puppy The earliest idea for 'Bloom' was to create music of strong rhythmic intensity, achieved without drums or percussion and in a more classical setting. And after a period of experimenting with the dynamics of a string section to drive the pulse, Laurance got to work composing from his London studio base. 'The Untold Orchestra' proves to be the perfect partner in this endeavour: The ensemble, which was only founded in 2019, focuses on collaborations with musicians from a wide variety of genres. And on 'Bloom', it performs with the tightness and sonic density of modern pop music and the sensitivity and subtlety of classical musicians in equal measure. Conceptually, Laurance says the record was largely inspired by his child's capacity to imagine and create other worlds: 'Every decision we act upon can be traced back to our capacity to imagine, and the limits of what we can achieve are restricted only by our ability to dream, as such. My child's ability to pull back the curtain of reality and create a fantasy world ignited possibilities of my own, and with Bloom I seek to transport the listener to those places, inspired throughout by the power of the natural world and our ever-growing dependence on it.' Featuring numerous occurrences of his widely lauded improvisational skills, Laurance perfects the balance of straddling virtuosity without becoming self indulgent. His playing is not about demonstrating technical mastery on the piano, but about weaving these techniques into something that captivates the listener, no matter what music they usually feel at home with. It respects the full instrumentation of his compositions, creating breathing space for all of the musicians to be heard and understood. With it's vocal and narrative quality, this music creates spaces and dream worlds in which listeners can lose themselves with joy.