Europa

A newcomer to the post-classical and ambient worlds, yet fully formed as he arrives, Jim Wallis is no stranger to embracing musical crossover. A drummer in Modern Nature (members of Ultimate Painting / Beak>) and Still Corners, Wallis is also a superb ambient artist in his own right, releasing his debut album on Tip Top Recordings.

The album accompanies forthcoming independent movie ‘Europa’. ‘Europa “Based on a True Story”, will be premiering in the main competition at the International Documentary Film Festival of Amsterdam this month, and documents the story of an asylum seeker who takes his own life. Wallis learnt to play the cello especially for the album, something that was a somewhat cathartic experience for the talented multi-instrumentalist: “Since my grandma passed away in 2012, her beautiful old cello had been sat untouched in my parents’ house, so I dusted it off and started taking lessons. It was a strange, some mes moving experience to spend time playing the instrument my grandmother had played for 80 years from when she was a teenager, and particularly to do so while working on this project where living and dead characters interact” said Wallis.

Inspired in part by the work of Robert Fripp and Brian Eno, lead single ‘Audition’ is a perfect example of how Wallis creates the atmosphere of suspension - a moving synth ballad, iridescent with gentle chimes, the piece is a beautiful kaleidoscope of peaceful sounds.