Richard Moult – Ethe

Richard Moult is an artist, musician and poet based in rural Scotland. In addition to his solo efforts, he is also known for his work with Irish folk collective United Bible Studies and the alternative folk groups Current 93 and Black Furlong. Recorded in Summer of 2008, Ethe is the first full length solo release by Moult and consists of nine piano-based pieces recorded live in St Leonard Parish Church, Hastings. The natural ambience of the church combines with Moults’ own unique talent to deliver a stunning work of melancholic reverie.

Ethe opens with The Five Daughters. Numbering one through five, the tracks are timeless piano solos, each one showing exceptional restraint and a strong grasp of dynamics. At times reminiscent of neo-classical ensemble Rachel’s or Peter Broderick, Moult sets himself aside from peers with a minimalist approach to the performance and recording of Ethe, which is rarely matched by contemporaries. Indeed, perhaps a more accurate comparison would be with Philip Glass’ Solo Piano. That same sense of intimacy afforded by the stripped down capturing of audio is present on both works.

As the last of The Five Daughters tracks give way to Swaermian, the tone becomes markedly more experimental, assumedly due in part to an artist named the. bricoleu, credited as providing ‘lysergic morphing’. This works well and serves to change the mood and highlight another aspect to Moult’s art, ‘ruining’ the beauty of the piano in a way which is analogous to the technique Library Tapes’ David Wennegren employs on occasion.

Following another classical piano number, the album closes with a duo of experimental works named The Road To Strata Florida, parts one and two, respectively. Both more outwardly ambient in nature, reverberation is used to great effect and close Ethe on a more overtly ambient and experimental note.

Ethe is an album without misstep and, while many artists would be content to disperse the ideas within Ethe over a number of works, Moult has contained them within one album – this is much to the artists credit and to the listener’s pleasure.

Available on CD now from Deadslackstring

- Review by Adam Williams for Fluid Radio

www.deadslackstring.com
www.richardmoult.wordpress.com
www.myspace.com/richardmoult