POPPY ACKROYD – SINGLE(S) REVIEW

Poppy Ackroyd – Feathers/Birdwoman/Glass Sea (One Little Indian)
Poppy Ackroyd

Release Date: Out Now

Let’s get this out of the way now; Poppy Ackroyd plays solo piano pieces that are beautiful and emotive so, of course, the easy comparison to make is with Ludovico Einaudi which is lazy of me but also high praise indeed. Anyway, on with the review. The first of these three tunes, ‘Feathers’ is an emerging, delicate piece that has all the hesitancy of a hungry squirrel emerging in to the melting snow of Spring in search of sustenance. It takes a good two minutes for anything resembling a melody to reveal itself amidst the scattered atmospheric notes. The flurry of keys is something of a whirl and it is hard not to get swept up in the cinematic qualities of a tune that tells a story all of its own.

On ‘Birdwoman’ the mood of the first track is taken on to a new, quieter place that is reflective and almost introspective. Indeed, if this piece where used in a film this would be the scene where the lonely and angry old lady would walk around her house and see it filled with nothing but regret and dust before making the decision to throw her doors open to the town’s orphans. There is a sprinkled sense of magic to the notes here that speak of hope blossoming in the most unlikely of places and we could all do with a bit of that in our lives right now, couldn’t we?

The final track, ‘Glass Sea’, has a hopeful energy about it as well as a steely determination that makes you want to get up to watch the sun rise on the first day of the rest of your life. The neo-classical structure and range of notes is resonant of Tori Amos at her flamboyant best but this is more about create a mood or an atmosphere than a song, per se. The key them to all three of these tunes is an elemental and seasonal vibe that is born in the wild and takes on all the rich sounds, colours and tones of the great outdoors. Poppy Ackroyd is a fiercely talented musician with a range of future options sprawled out in front of her from recording artist to composer to film scorer and all those options are within her reach.


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