Eden Lonsdale — Clear and Hazy Moons

Clear and Hazy Moons is the debut album from young Berlin-born modern classical composer Eden Lonsdale. It’s a CD release on the always excellent Sheffield-based label Another Timbre, which features four-length dwells in moodily simmering & haunting composition.

Mr Lonsdale splits his time between Berlin and London- with his work exploring the inter-connectedness between harmony and timbre.  His densely sweeping & drifting compositions pull the listener in- embracing moments of clunking to gliding simmer, lush melody repetition, and more gloomily foreboding dwells.

The four pieces featured here date from between 2021 & 2022- with each having runtimes between fourteen and twenty-four minutes. Playing three of the compositions is the highly respected modern ensemble Apartment House, with the fourth being played by London-based new music/ classical music collective Rothko Collective.

The release opens with “Oasis” which is for piano, violin, cello, clarinet, electric guitar, and percussion. The piece is at first built around an uneasy clunking piano element- this is surrounded by foreboding to glowing tone dwells- which simmer in & out of existence. As the work progresses more vibe and bell-like elements appear,  as well as more harmonic key tones- these somewhat smooth out the feeling of sombre twilight clunk for a more glowing melancholy.

Next, we have “Billowing” which is for violin, viola, cello, double bass, clarinet, soprano sax, flutes and trumpet. This piece embraces the more harmonic and lush side of Mr Lonsdale's sound- as it is built around a repetitious melody line, which is played out by the different instrumentation in slower to more mid-paced sequence, at points this creates a feeling of mournful cascade, and if you’re looking for a prime example of the composers blending of harmony and timbre, this would be the track you’d go to.

Track number three is the album's title track, and is for two violins, viola, cello, alto flute, bass clarinet, percussion and piano. And this track perfectly distils the feeling of shadowy night-time disquiet- as the string & wind instrumentation create a hazy ‘n’ misty drone matter- with subtle piano-bound additions, light simmer percussion, and gentle tone sear. Truly a spell-binding track, which really pulls you into its light swirl sonic nocturnal pull.

Lastly, we have “Anatomy Of Joy”- which is for violin, viola, cello, double bass, clarinet, soprano Sax, flutes and trumpet.  The composition moves between a slow-moving simmer and mournful glide- which inhabits both an almost off-key haze & lushly glow.  

Clear and Hazy Moons is an impressive debut release- with Lonsdale showing he can create work that hovers between uneasy & harmony, and disquiet & lushness. I very much looking forward to hearing more of Mr Lonsdale's work down the line, and yet another worthy release from  Another Timbre