From the very first note, Norway’s Jon Balke proposes a new sonic dimension with Skrifum, continuing a line of inquiry begun with Warp (2016) and Discourses (2020), solo piano albums which also processed the acoustic environment in which the music was heard.

Skrifum (the Icelandic word for “write”) takes things a step further. With the aid of electronic audio tool the Spektrafon, which he helped develop, Balke is now able to directly manipulate ambient audio sound from the piano while playing – pulling out frequencies and sustaining them as chords of harmonics.

This activated reverberation becomes new material for improvised dialogue, often with quite beautiful results. Jon Balke: “The Spektrafon’s sound feeds back in ways that demand space. I take that opportunity to play mostly monophonically and to focus on every single note and its position in the soundscape.”

1. Sparks [4:05]
2. Traces [2:41]
3. Lines [2:54]
4. Streaks [4:08]
5. Lanes [4:07]
6. Strand [2:40]
7. Stripes [4:14]
8. Ductus [2:15]
9. Rifts [4:22]
10. Calligraphic [1:21]
11. Syllables [4:34]
12. Kitabat [2:38]
13. Skrifum [2:16]
14. Tegaki [5:11]

Recorded in November 2023 at Village Recording in Copenhagen and edited and mastered at Bavaria Musikstudios in Munich, and produced by Manfred Eicher and Jon Balke himself, the album opens on the veritably crystalline Sparks and a playful Traces and then we get the haunting Lines, a serenely crafted Streaks, the gently strident fare of Lanes, before both the flirtatious Strand and the thoughtful Stripes are brought forth.

Along next is the joyfully expressive Ductus and the creative Rifts and they are in turn backed seamlessly by the nuanced Calligraphic, the quietly pensive Syllables, and a free flowing confidence within Kitabat, with the album rounding out on the more stoic nature of the title track Skrifum, closing on an articulate foresight within Tegaki.

“The Spektrafon’s sound feeds back in ways that demand space,” says Jon Balke. “So I take that opportunity to play mostly monophonically and to focus on every single note and its weight and position in the soundscape.”

Musician:
Jon Balke - Piano, Spektrafon

Official Purchase Link

Jon Balke @ Bandcamp