Ambient/neoclassical artist Jannek describes his latest album, Call To Stillness, as being “about collaborating with what’s happening to you instead of fighting it.” The artist’s belief in the healing power of music is evident in the opening track, “Dyer Point,” which sounds like an artistic therapy session.
Composed of hollow synths, acoustic piano, tribal percussion, and resounding vocals, the song plays like a meditative film score inside the artist’s mind. As he sits he lets his emotions run wild – both the good and the bad – and allows them to purge and resolve themselves organically rather than suppressing them further. The result is a masterpiece; a perfect musical metaphor for the lessons we all learn the hard way. We live life always striving for pleasure, but with the light comes the dark. It comes unexpectedly and inconveniently, yet the dark moments are an essential part of the human experience because without hard times, the good times are meaningless.
Jannek is constantly experimenting with textures and dynamics throughout the track. Every instrument opens a new section of your mind, inviting you in to explore. The instrumentation was carefully curated to form a unique aesthetic to support the music; you’ll find delicate pianos, an intrepid kalimba, drums ranging from lyrical and ancillary to overwhelmingly forceful, all blending together with just enough atmospheric keyboard sounds to make James Blake salivate. Every sound is calculated and each note is deliberate.
Like all good music should, “Dyer Point” will challenge you. It offers up a smorgasbord of emotions that may make you uncomfortable – misery, strife, a paralyzing sense of uncertainty – interspersed between welcome speckles of hope, optimism, and peace. Life’s yin and yang represented on a single track, and by the end of it you’ll have gained an appreciation for both.
Written by Tim Clark
FOLLOW JANNEK:
