Tom Rogerson - Retreat to Bliss (2022) [Official Digital Download 24/48]

Listening to Retreat to Bliss feels almost like eavesdropping, as though you’re crouched in the belfry of a Suffolk church, bearing witness to a form of musical bloodletting. For the first time in his noteworthy career, Rogerson has combined masterful piano playing and subtle electronics with the texture of his own voice, an attempt to express deeply private emotions that were difficult to articulate using instrumental music alone.

“The last few years have brought some struggle, some joy, and a lot of change. My response has been to retreat to what I trust the most: the piano, my voice, and the landscape I grew up in. That’s how the album got its title, and how I came to be ready finally to release a solo record.”

The eleven tracks that make up Retreat to Bliss were recorded by Leo Abrahams (Brian Eno, David Byrne, Grace Jones) over the course of just a few days, a process that emphasized spontaneity and the artist’s own commitment to improvisation.

Secular yet devotional, intensely personal yet profound, the experience of listening to Retreat to Bliss seems to evade characterization. It’s physical and emotional, a glimpse into the mind of an artist who has chosen exposure over withdrawal, who uses his command of the piano to chart an unflinching path

forward, never looking back.

Tracklist:
1. Descent (05:22)
2. Oath (04:36)
3. Buried Deep (03:31)
4. Toumani (04:03)
5. Drone Finder Part 2 (02:25)
6. Chant (04:32)
7. Rapture 1 (04:08)
8. Open Out Span Wide View (03:46)
9. A Clearing (04:01)
10. Retreat To (06:10)
11. Coda (01:37)


Thanks to the Original customer!