Living Circle [LP]

Stockholm-based composer Shida Shahabi returns with her sophomore album, Living Circle - a wonderfully rich and accomplished new work that resonates with a powerful depth and viscerality. Where the warm, homespun piano of her 2018 debut, 'Homes', drew widespread praise and announced her arrival as a bold new voice, Living Circle sees the artist pushing forwards into deeper, more expansive sonic realms. With tracks stretching longer and slower, and her piano lines less ornate and dominant, 'Living Circle' is a heavyweight album and a must-hear for fans of Stars Of The Lid, Sarah Davachi, Max Richter and Labradford. As Shahabi points out, silence also plays a vital role in the album. Suffused with an elegant melancholy, it allows notes to linger and melodies to unfurl at a speed that reflects the record's making. Eerie but uplifting, imposing yet redemptive, it succeeds in being as expansive as it is intimate, as still as it is fluid, haunting those who hear it long after the music's quietly faded. Glacially paced and powerfully resonant, Living Circle is an important reminder of the joys in taking a measured, patient approach to the art of creation. There is, let's not forget, nothing like being in the right place at the right time, especially if ultimately the goal is to achieve something timeless.