Written by Pat Moran
Lumière,” the first single from British composer, performer and painter Izzy Flynn’s Solo Piano Sketches project, begins with a series of soft radiating notes. They spiral skyward, as if they are climbing a hazy, gently rising path at dawn.
“Lumière” is so intimate that the lyrical melodies played by Flynn’s right hand and the subtly shifting figures essayed by her left seem shockingly close. The track’s muffled-in-cotton production accentuates this perception. On one hand, Flynn presents a quaint, antiquarian music box tune, on the other we feel like we’re eavesdropping on her private reveries.
Flynn’s gentle mysterious melodies and countermelodies are so closely recorded that the sounds of the pianist’s fingertips brushing the keyboard and pressing the keys are as audible as the notes she plays. The mechanical artifacts of Flynn’s technique are as integral to the myriad moods the piece creates as the notes themselves.
The sonic aspect of “Lumière” is just one facet of Flynn’s vision. The artist’s Solo Piano Sketches entwine the worlds of music and fine arts, pairing her piano pieces with abstract paintings. In this case, the musical “Lumiere,” a word that means “light,” is accompanied by a study in shades of red, a painting that pairs vibrant splashes of scarlet with the mist shrouded pinks of sunrise or sunset.
The painting mirrors the images conjured by Flynn’s lyrical, pirouetting melodies. We listeners are mesmerized, drawn into her impressionist journey into the light.
Take a listen
Leave a comment