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Keiko Higuchi/Cris X, "Melt"
Melt is an unexpected pairing given my previous experience with both artists. Higuchi I have heard mostly in an almost conventional jazz context, marked by conventional piano playing and her powerful, idiosyncratic vocal style, while Cris X (Cristano Luciani) I associate with harsher, more noise oriented abstractions. Neither deviate too far from what I expected from them on here, but the odd pairing works surprisingly well and comes together as more than the sum of its parts.
There is a shifting dynamic between the two artists across these five pieces, with one seemingly taking the lead on different pieces, while the other sits squarely between the two artists' respective styles."Ceaseless/Do You Care?" is one of the pieces that seems to favor Higuchi's solo work more, with her slightly pained vocals and piano playing sticking in the foreground, accented by Luciani's crackling textures and distant noisy clattering.
A similar sense can be heard on "Tell Me What You Got to Say," where the sound is stripped back to sparse piano chords and calmer vocals, with the more dissonant moments reserved for backing textures.In contrast, "In Obscurity" is more consistent with what I have heard from Luciani before, with its sharp, piercing electronics slicing through the otherwise peaceful piano and vocals.For the second half the noise dulls to a dark rumble and far off field recordings, but dissonance stays as the primary focus.
On "Sister/You Left Me So Insane," the two seem to be at equal footing, with Higuchi's piano swells and dramatic vocals pairing with Luciani's dense, reverberated noise backing to create a hybrid of the two artists' repertoire.Though both are equally represented stylistically, the darkness is undeniable.The closing title piece stands out perhaps the most as sounding somewhat like neither artist specifically, but something altogether unique.A slow bed of traditional Japanese percussion underscores the constantly shifting vocals (in mood and tone) that remain harsh without every truly becoming noisy.Even when the more familiar sound of Higuchi's piano arrives, it remains more of an accent than the primary focus.
Higuchi and Cris X work with very different sounds and styles on their own, and while superficially the two may not seem complimentary, the overreaching dark but beautiful mood is what draws them together.Normally I would expect the more unsettling moments to come courtesy of the electronics, but the most chilling moments were largely Higuchi's contributions.It is the combination of both, however, that causes Melt to excel.
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