Hummingbird – Our Fearful Symmetry (Review)

Sometimes, all it takes is one moment in music, a specific sound, a sliver of a piano note, a shimmer of guitar, where the listener is, at once, completely taken over…

An unassuming sound creates a moment of clarity for the listener and from that moment, the listener is transfixed on the music, a sense of bewilderment overwhelms them, and they are beholden to the album until it finally ends. Hummingbird, the nom de plume of an otherwise well-known composer, of whom very little is known, creates many of these moments throughout Our Fearful Symmetry, and at each, wonder abounds.

Upon pressing play, “Uncertainty in Copenhagen” lulls the listener into the minute intricacies of the sustained notes of piano, which find their way through the current of strings gliding fluidly around the piece. The listener continues to be drawn in further from the ominous plucks of “Seeds of Deception” to the sparse notes of “The Little Green Box”. Each sound emitted sends the listener off on tangents of introspection, allowing them to move effortlessly from place to place, in tune with one’s physical surroundings as well as the space surrounding the sounds.

Most of the pieces on Our Fearful Symmetry are built around subtle string arrangements that become entangled in a string of piano notes, odd field recordings, as on “Thoughts in the Head” where I could swear there was the sound of a clanging buoy gently rocking on the sea, and other minimal electronic textures that add to the wonderful use of space on each of the pieces presented here.

The listener is never overwhelmed, and instead, is given space to breathe and absorb, before returning to soak in the ever-expanding sea of sounds. On “Defining Space”, Hummingbird does just that for the listener, which is a microcosm of the album as a whole, creating a place in order for the listener to exist and giving that place meaning or definition.

This album is truly a wonder and as it is limited to 100 copies, those lucky enough to secure a copy will bask in its beauty for a long time. – Review by Michael Vitrano for Fluid Radio

…………………………….

Released through Fluid Audio in late June the album will be limited to 100 copies packaged in letter pressed cd covers and will come with bespoke 1940′s polaroid slides incased in original glass cases. Full info/pictures coming in the next few weeks.

www.fluidaudio.co.uk