The premier release on Laurel Halos Awe label, Atlas is also the first LP from the composer, musician, and producer since the 2020 commercial release of her score for the 2018 film Possessed. Like Possessed and 2018s Raw Silk Uncut Wood, Atlas is devoid of beats if not without contoured low-end thrum. Its otherwise rather different, a flowing sequence of orchestral ambient collages with a sense of dislocation evoking everything from barren cityscapes and subaquatic vastness to flickering memories and numbed stupefaction. Halo started with solo piano sketches she reshaped during a residency at Paris Ina-GRM Studios, then added strings from cellist Lucy Railton and violinist James Underwood, saxophone from Bendik Giske, and vocals from Coby Sey, as well as her own voice and additional instrumentation (guitar, violin, vibraphone), followed by further treatments. These are sedate pieces light in touch if full of emotion, similar in subtle power to "Breath," the Possessed highlight Ryuichi Sakamoto selected as the conclusion of his funeral playlist. Piano and strings are most prominent. "Belleville" is closest to a tune with limpid keyboard melodies joined suddenly and fleetingly by cresting strings matched by the wordless voices of Halo and Sey. Piano elsewhere is either concealed in the mix or emerges from the atmospheres just enough to be considered a lead instrument without reaching plangency. The album is bookended by "Abandon" and "Earthbound," the two tracks with Giske, whose presence isnt obvious, submerged and seemingly elongated amid dense constructions. It all resonates more deeply with each listen. ~ Andy Kellman

Rovi