Saturday Moon

While Chantal's three previous solo albums were immaculately produced by two luminaries of the so-called "post-classical" scene (Nils Frahm, Peter Broderick and Phill Brown respectively), Saturday Moon is a more feral child and is all the stronger for it. The album spins and turns and upends preconceptions throughout its length. There are sonic surprises like Alan from Low's guitar synth on "Disappear," a song that ends in a tornado of electricity and also features backing vocals from Low bandmate Mimi. Atmospheric guitar legend Bill Frisell delicately converses with two tracks. Shahzad Ismaily of Tom Waits and Marc Ribot fame plays haunted six string fractures on one of the album's darkest songs "Conflict of Minds", together with Borgar Magnason (Sigur Rós, Björk). There are eighteen musicians in total on the album. Strings, horns, contrabass and piano are also woven into the kaleidoscopic, eclectic mesh. It is a human-all-too-human balance of things. Clarity and randomness. Anger and elation. Loss and awakening. The personal and the communal.