BLACK AND WHITE - Ashley Wass (new album)

There were many great new release albums to choose from, this week, for my first "new release album" feature. In the end, however, I opted for

This, I found, is a haunting, reflective and melancholic album from Mr Wass, characterised throughout by a stunning sense of spacing and incredible, quite incredible musicality. It makes me think of a piano (and a pianist), alone, performing in the middle of a vast empty space, such as a desert, or within the walls of a cathedral. Loneliness and nostalgia, somehow soaring through it all. A journey through stunning classical pieces, into traditional works, then back to classical for the last two pieces of the album. Balm for the soul. Enjoy.