We Stay Still is Mathieu Mazué Trio’s intriguing follow up to Cortex (2021). The album, made up entirely of original compositions and presented with as much discipline as freedom, passes the idea of ‘through-composed’ momentum.
“White Fields” is launched with demonstrative, poignant piano playing; shivering in the way Mazué employs intervals and surfaces. The bassist Xaver Rüegg, whose notes notably lock in with the drummer Michael Cina’s drive, delivers a sophisticated if enigmatic solo, benefitting from apt piano support in the upper registers. Roughly felt as a haunting dirge, this piece bears some similar qualities as “Au Plus Profond Des Steppes”, where we find some volatility in the footprint and accuracy in the rhythmic accents; the enigmatic tones turning it picturesque and slightly labyrinthine in the side paths.