{"title":"Thomas William Hill","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"asylum-for-eve","title":"Asylum For Eve","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom the combined backgrounds of film score composition and field recordings comes \u003ci\u003eAsylum For Eve\u003c\/i\u003e, Thomas William Hill’s rich and expressive new album, and the first written under his own name. It will be released through Village Green. While not a concept album in the strict sense of the term, the album’s title refers to a hypothetical imagining of \u003ci\u003eMitochondrial Eve\u003c\/i\u003e, the theorised matrilineal ancestor of all living humans, reincarnated in today’s world of restricted movement. After tracking down an old Bechstein Model 9 upright piano for \u003ci\u003eAsylum For Eve\u003c\/i\u003e, Thomas set about modifying and preparing it with cardigans, screws and nails in order to provide the textures and timbres which characterise the album’s dense, affecting sound. Techniques employed for the album include the intricate layering of bowed guitars and ukuleles, and fingerpicked violins, banjo and charango. Tracks such as \u003ci\u003ePinhole Eclipse, Laniakea, Cirrostratus\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003ePeak District\u003c\/i\u003e all feature the soft, mournful dustings of piano that have come to define a sound spearheaded by artists such as Nils Frahm and Olafur Arnalds. With the addition of mallet instruments, toyboxes and climactic string arrangements, however, Thomas succeeds in producing a textured sound, rich in emotional depth, that is uniquely his own. Often, the music is powerful, evocative and cinematic, reaching high, cathartic climaxes while also providing moments of extreme tenderness, but this experimentation with layering also works beautifully when crafting lighter moods.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP - With Download.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Village Green","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50495388713291,"sku":"1003529","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50495388975435,"sku":"1003530","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/8ead553c-3785-4a82-8034-9e0377eff406_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727710602"},{"product_id":"grains-of-space","title":"Grains Of Space","description":"\u003cp\u003eNottingham-based composer and multi-instrumentalist Thomas William Hill returns to Village Green with \u003ci\u003eGrains Of Space\u003c\/i\u003e, his second album for the label following 2017’s multi-textured \u003ci\u003eAsylum For Eve\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eGrains Of Space\u003c\/i\u003e started life as a series of minimal loops, recorded using a viola da gamba - a stringed instrument most popular in the Renaissance and Baroque eras - and a loop pedal. Using the negative space within each loop as the primary drive for composing, Thomas began a process of ‘joining the dots’, allowing the silence to dictate the next layer, informing the length, pitch and timbre of notes. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUsing those recordings as the foundation, Thomas began incorporating a wide variety of other instruments into his palette, including bowed metallophones, gongs, Tibetan singing bowls, African kalimbas and metal tongue drums, as well as drum machines and analogue synthesisers. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the tense, opening drones of \u003ci\u003eCarriages \u003c\/i\u003eto sparser, more lyrical works such as \u003ci\u003eCurvature\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eRefract,\u003c\/i\u003e Thomas again demonstrates profound compositional insight, crafting highly poignant moments rich with harmony and texture. Complementing this, a more developed sense of pulse and rhythm characterises much of the album, such as the propulsive undertow of \u003ci\u003eWillow\u003c\/i\u003e and the tactile, modernist polyrhythms of \u003ci\u003eFurnace\u003c\/i\u003e and\u003ci\u003e Tongue.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eGrains Of Space\u003c\/i\u003e also sees Tom collaborating and cowriting with a number of other musicians, bringing trumpet, violin, double bass and harp together to provide a broad and varied form to each piece. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Village Green","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50498414117195,"sku":"1062692","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50498413756747,"sku":"1062691","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/61ac5611-dbe5-4a32-9f5d-d84d0fb24e17_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727747478"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/thomas-william-hill.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}