James Opstad

Drift, despite its title, is one of the most arresting compositions I've heard this year. In a superb performance by pianist Siwan Rhys and percussionist George Barton, with Heather Roche on clarinet, this piece suggests some stripped down perpetual motion machine, unexpectedly losing its mojo and winding down. Tempo slackens, pitch dips, timbres acquire an increasingly adhesive feel. Precisely formed yet sensuously expressive, Roche's woodwind inflections take on a hypnotic quality as they coil languidly through a structure held palpably in tension by piano and temple blocks. When the trio eventually fall silent, the aftermath is like awakening from a dream that had appeared to be a self-sustaining reality. Listeners already familiar with Opstad's work as a double bass player and member of Apartment House will find on this release a fresh and intriguing compositional voice emerging from Drift and four earlier chamber works.

Over the piece's length, it becomes so wonderfully hypnotic in its weave. It feels like a slightly more mysterious and at times ritualistic/oddly unbalancing take on Morton Feldman. Yet Opstad also manages to embody his own sonic identity into the work too, and it's simply spellbinding stuff.

Overall, this is an exciting debut from a young composer. As one would expect, the players – Apartment House, GBSR Duo (Siwan Rhys, piano and George Barton, percussion) and Heather Roche, clarinet – cannot be faulted in their commitment to its vision.