Julia Eckhardt — Blanca

Blanca is an eight-track album focused on windswept and moodily elemental works for the Viola. It takes its name from a small town in rural southeastern Spain, where Berlin-born violist Julia Eckhardt took up residency during the winter of 2022 for a month, spending her days walking the majestic but intimidating hill-lands that surround the town.

This CD release appears on Sheffield-based Another Timbre. It’s presented in the labels' house style white mini gatefold. On the front cover, we have a photo of bent & rusted farm equipment in tangles of weeds & grass. Inside, we have a write-up about the release/ Eckhardt’s residency. Also, unusually for this label, we have an eight-page colour inlay- on each page- it features more of the rocky/ barren terrain around the town.

Each of the eight tracks is improvised- informed by both the photos and field recordings Julia took each day. We move from “Patterns, Slow” with its moody blend of mid-range simmering string work & barren- yet taut plucking. Onto the hoovering, searing, whistling, and later waywardly harmonic hum of “Levity”. There’s the grand yet forlornly sombre and steadily swooning tones of “Circular”. Or the foreboding baying and roughly rounding billowing of “Wind Again”.

Each track on Blanca feels very earthy and authentic, really capturing the barren & windswept November Ms Eckhardt spent in the Spanish countryside. The addition of the inlay booklet is a nice idea, and really helps to deepen each track's sonic identity.