ELLEN ARKBRO - Nightclouds (Blank Forms Editions, 2025)

ELLEN ARKBRO - Nightclouds (Blank Forms Editions, 2025)

Ellen Arkbro (b. 1990) is a composer, musician, and sound artist working with precision-tuned intervallic harmony and installation. Arkbro composes for acoustic instruments, synthetic sounds, and combinations of the two. Despite her works’ scale and precision, the result is rarely a dry exercise in process; Arkbro draws from a vivid array of musical vocabularies—namely, her studies with La Monte Young, Marian Zazeela, Jung Hee Choi, and Marc Sabat; jazz and blues scales and pop modalities; electroacoustic music and sound synthesis; and her time in Catherine Christer Hennix’s Kamigaku Ensemble. She originally trained as a singer with a focus on jazz, changed paths to study at the Elektronmusikstudion (EMS), and ultimately received a degree in Electroacoustic Music Composition at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. Her work has been supported by residencies at Somerset House in London, Blank Forms in New York, La Becque Résidence d’artistes in La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland, and the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Centre in Troy, New York, as well as numerous grants, including the ten-year work grant from the Swedish Arts Council. She has presented her site-specific work at Barbican in London, Kölner Philharmonie, Serralves in Porto, Oude Kerk in Amsterdam, Silent Green in Berlin, Ina GRM in Paris, and Tempelaukkio Kirke in Helsinki. In all aspects of her practice, Arkbro focuses on the qualities of harmonic sound that reveal listening as an active process of creative participation, inviting the listener to gradually transform into the sound itself.

Ellen Arkbro’s fourth album, "Nightclouds", is an exhilarating journey that brings together five captivating improvisations for solo organ, all recorded in the enchanting landscapes of Central Europe in 2023–24. This collection pulses with a Romantic spirit and introspective depth, pushing boundaries while staying true to the rigorous precision that defines Arkbro’s artistry. 

In "Nightclouds", she takes her previous explorations of spatial harmony, tactile sensations, and rich textures to new heights, weaving influences from sacred music, ECM-inspired jazz, and downtown minimalism. The result? A breathtaking blend of cool intimacy and profound tone. Arkbro’s mesmerising chordal improvisations wash over the listener like a beautifully haunting tide, while the close miking exposes the gritty, tactile essence of the reeds, creating an immersive experience that transports you both deep into the sound and beyond it.

With echoes of collaborations between Kjell Johnsen and Jan Garbarek, as well as La Monte Young and Tony Conrad’s interpretations of Euringer and Harmer’s “Oh Bury Me Not,” *Nightclouds* radiates a spiritual pathos wrapped in an elegantly restrained structure. Prepare to be enveloped in its emotional landscape - this album is an unmissable auditory adventure!

Rating: 9/10