Max Richter – Infra (Review)

Genuine OPENING TRACKS to albums are a comparative scarcity in this day and age, something of a lost art. Pieces that slowly introduce tone, mood and the instrumentation, setting the pace for the record as a whole and the stage for the themes to follow. Since the advent of digital distribution, the concept of the album itself is a less important one, and opening tracks seem to have been deemed to be a lesser concern.

So to be greeted with the opener “Infra 1”, from Max Richter’s new album is something of a pleasant shock.

Two shortwave radio loops panned to each side slowly creep up in volume.  Morse code. Feedback squalls. Some faint drone in the background, then some further feedback. There’s a swell of strings, and then – the bottom end drops.

Tape warmth. Immaculate playing. Brilliant arrangements. Clever mixing.

Magic. It’s like being lost at sea.

And as quickly as it’s there, it fades again, the best opening to a record I’ve heard so far this year. The immediate reaction is to try and process the multiple impressions and incredible production, as the strings and piano parts sound as though they’re actually in the room with you. The cinematic sweep and the emotional engagement that are present in all of his previous works are here in spades. I’ve seen it written that the music on this release presents itself in a stronger light without the spoken word work of Kafka and Murakami, and that’s fair comment – the minimalist structures assume the central role that they deserve.

Production aficionados will find a lot to return to here over time – solo instrumentals such as the piano in “Infra 3” even appear to have multiple layers surrounding it. The initial impression one takes out of the track is that the piano was miked from multiple angles and distances, and then subtle variations were applied to each track, decaying or manipulating them. Upon further listens, the tracks to each side of the piano present multiple possibilities – more radio noise? Laptop manipulations? Electronic percussion? You strain to decode it, further instrumentation rises, and as you’re almost at an answer you’re into the next track.

The 2:13 “Journey 2” has a submerged quality to it, as a disconcerting bass throb pulses away at the back of the spectrum. A multitude of drones rise up in front of it and recede again, whilst hiss rears in the background.

Other tracks, like “Infra 4” and “Infra 5” reminded me of Clint Mansell’s “The Fountain” soundtrack collaboration with Kronos and Mogwai which is not to make any accusations of being derivative, but tonally they’re similar (albeit a touch less bombastic). “Journey 5” and “Infra 6” put me in mind of Ludovico Einuadi, albeit a more ethereal version. All of these are fairly obvious touchstones when dealing with modern classical, granted, but indicative of a familiar emotional depth.

“Infra 8” is a fitting closing track, with plaintive strings ringing out over a evocative refrain – it feels as though it could go in almost any direction, but closes out without any extra texture or manipulation, a welcome simplicity. An organic and elegiac close to a meticulous, well considered and assured effort (as though you’d expect anything less).

Adding to the cinematic effect is the comparative brevity of the tracks – a majority under three minutes. Oddly, they don’t FEEL like they want to be any longer, and they tail into each other in a fairly effortless fashion. “Journey 4” and “Journey 5” are seamlessly edited together, as are “Infra” 6 and 7. There are no track titles to be found here, only numbered “Infra”s and “Journey”s, again placing the music front and centre without the distraction of association.

The work was originally part of collaboration between Wayne Macgregor and Julian Opie for The Royal Ballet last year, written in autumn 2008 and premiered in November of the same year at The Royal Opera House in London. Hard to comment on how the music would have complimented the ballet without having seen it, but given the music they had to work with one imagines it would have been quite a sight. Richter’s work on the ballet came initially from McGregor’s invitation, a request for 25 minutes of music for his piece, inspired by T.S. Elliot’s ‘The Wasteland’ and named after the Latin term for ‘below’. The 13 tracks presented here are both the pieces from the ballet itself, and pieces that developed out of it, described as a “continued reference” to the ballet rather than work that grew out of it.

The promotional material that accompanies “infra” seems anxious to make the point that it’s an accompaniment to the ballet rather than a “studio album” proper, but that does it a disservice, as it presents strongly as a standalone piece in its own right. It doesn’t need any visual partners to be understood and appreciated on its own terms. Added to this is the fact that it also has one of the most iconic covers I’ve seen in quite some time.

The stated theme is one of travel – as explained by Richter -

“I started thinking about making a piece on the theme of journeys. Like a road movie. Or a traveler’s notebook. Or like the second unit in a film – when the scene has been played, and the image cuts away to the landscape going by. This started me thinking about Schubert’s devastating and haunting “Winterreise” (Winter Journey), so I used some melodic material from Schubert as a found object in parts of my new piece.“

The accompanying material also makes mention of the fact that recording of ‘infra’ took place in one day at London’s AIR Studios, and the exceptional recording quality is evident. It’s also mentioned that the original recordings were then further worked on in Richter’s studio in Berlin – presumably to blend the live instrumentation with the subtle electronica, feedback and ambience that permeates the record.

If you’re not familiar with Richter’s work, this is an ideal entry point, and if you are (which I suspect is a good deal of you all already) this is an essential addition to an already impressive and consistent body of releases.

“Infra” is released on July 19th, on FatCat’s imprint 130701 and can be pre-ordered as 320k MP3, CD and LP. The LP is worth buying just on the strength of dropping the needle on the first track, cracking a good bottle of red late at night, sitting back and listening to the house shake.

Review by Alex Gibson for Fluid Radio

Track Listing:

1. Infra 1
2. Journey 2
3. Infra 2
4. Infra 3
5. Journey 2
6. Infra 4
7. Journey 3
8. Journey 5
9. Journey 6
10. Infra 5
11. Infra 6
12. Infra 7
13. Infra 8

Pre-order from the FatCat store here

www.maxrichter.com
www.fat-cat.co.uk
www.myspace.com/fatcat130701