– THE PEACEFUL PROTEST –

I once walked around the city of Leeds and was asked / told / whatevered to ‘ey up’ 12 times before the clock had struck 10am. To this day I have yet to work out what an acceptable response is to this phrase; ‘Yes’? ‘Thank you’? ‘Go fuck yourself’?

What I do know about Leeds is that it is very much the rising hotbed of jazz music in the UK (soft Southern Londoners beware!) In recent weeks I’ve reviewed music by Project Hilts and Yaatri – both bands formed at Leeds’ College of Music – and now a third collective – Platimo – has very much arrived on my radar.

Primarily a collaboration between Norwegian nylon-guitarist Benjamin Hidas and British pianist Felix Bertulis-Webb, the project also blends in the sounds of a handpan, a string quartet and solo-choristers.

The result is a densely textured, richly rewarding sound that, though deeply rooted in jazz also explores vastly different – and often rougher – terrains.

Witness, on Hope Valley, the song’s frankly breath-taking final two-and-a-half minutes in particular. Signalled in by the voices of angels, the piece then goes full rock-opera for a few moments before turning into early Genesis / Yes-style psychedelia.

It’s a stunning climax to a track that has otherwise been the picture of pure compositional perfection.

The band’s self-titled debut album has been self-released in the form of five singles over the course of this last week.

MORE FROM THIS WEEK’S MIX

ABEKEJSER: FLOATING THROUGH THE UNIVERSE
MOSES SUMNEY: VIRILE
CORTO.ALTO: BETTER
FKA TWIGS: HOLY TERRAIN

P.S. You can find all of the tracks reviewed above in the 45 Revolutions per Minute playlist below or click to access the 45 RPM Playlist on Spotify itself.

If you like what you hear (or even if you don’t), please engage in dialogue with me @45rpm_Reviews on Twitter. And, if you’d like to receive updates weekly, please subscribe to the email list to get these recommendations sent to your inbox weekly.

– SV –