Sachal Vasandani - Still Life (2022) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

In 2020, as the pandemic spread across the globe, both Sachal and Romain found themselves confined to New York with all their touring cancelled and their artistic expression put on hold. When they were allowed to do so, these friends and neighbours met for walks and for coffee to talk about life, Art, Politics, the craziness of the world, and music. The idea of collaborating emerged, with no thought beyond finding a way of channeling their anxiety and anger.

What emerged was a very real desire to make music that was quiet, introspective and nuanced. Music that spoke with emotion and feeling, which didn’t allow virtuosity to override meaning, expression and feeling in the song. Midnight Shelter was born – a project that reworked classic and modern songs and reinterpreted their own originals. It was deeply emotive and intimate: the sound of a 2am session with friends without trying to wake the neighbors. As Sachal describes it, “We left out a lot of piano or vocal solos, or any kind of flights of fancy. The intensity of the song and the mood were the most important, as opposed to any of the typical stuff you would see in a jazz performance”. Throughout the album you can hear the sounds of the hammers in the piano, the squeak of the sustain pedal and the delicate subtleties of the breath. It’s up-close and personal, like being in the room with these two exquisite performers.

The resulting album, Midnight Shelter, was released in April 2021 to huge acclaim and as the pandemic continued to rage, their desire to make another album intensified. This time they wanted to go deeper into the music with a greater purpose, to think more about song choice, about tone and their collective sound.

The result is Still Life. The first major difference is the studio and more importantly, the piano used to record. The piano used on Midnight Shelter was, as Romain Collin put it, “…a piano that had been around and seen some things. It was full of character yet it lacked a quality and depth”. For Still Life, Steinway was the piano of choice which allowed Romain Collin to play even quieter than he could previously, to draw more tone from across the entire keyboard, with even greater control and a more nuanced depth of tone. As a result, Sachal’s rich and expressive voice was able to blend perfectly.

TRACKLIST

1. Sachal Vasandani - No More Tears
2. Sachal Vasandani - I Love You
3. Sachal Vasandani - The Sound of Silence
4. Sachal Vasandani - I Can't Make You Love Me
5. Sachal Vasandani - Blue in Green
6. Sachal Vasandani - Freight Train
7. Sachal Vasandani - If Only You Knew
8. Sachal Vasandani - Someone Somewhere
9. Sachal Vasandani - Latch
10. Sachal Vasandani - Let It Go
11. Sachal Vasandani - How Could We Be
12. Sachal Vasandani - Washing of the Water



Thanks to the Original customer.