All music composed by Snowdrops :
Christine Ott : Ondes Martenot, Piano, Xylophone
Mathieu Gabry : Piano, Keyboards, Electric Hurdy-Gurdy, Vibraphone
feat. Anne-Irène Kempf : Viola on The Weather Project
feat. Bartosz Szwarc : Accordion on Ligne de Mica, The River and Dreamers
Recorded, edited and mixed by Mathieu Gabry
Mastering by Benoit Burger
Artwork by Julie Calbert, based on her Hyperion series
'Corridors' is dedicated to Phuttiphong Aroonpheng, 'Ligne de Mica'
to Léa Barbazanges and 'The Weather Project' to Olafur Eliasson
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« The music on Singing Stones strikes a balance between extreme minimalism and profound complexity. (...) Snowdrops combines classical depth with a modern sensibility, crafting music that feels timeless, and their thoughtful approach creates a listening experience that’s more than just background — it's an exploration. »
Nenad Georgievski (ALL ABOUT JAZZ)
« A journey through soundscapes that are as haunting as beautiful. Its blend of progressive arrangements, rich textures, and profound storytelling invites listeners to lose themselves in its depths and discover something new with each listen. Whether you’re a fan of post-classical, avant-garde jazz, or evocative film scores, Singing Stones is a must-hear experience. » THIRD EYE
« The Weather Project references Icelandic–Danish artist Olafur Eliasson’s monumental site-specific installation employed with a semi-circular screen, a ceiling of mirrors, and artificial mist, and suggests dramatic atmospheric soundscape »
Eyal Hareuveni (SALT PEANUTS)
« A very unique listen that straddles improvisation and orchestration, and organic meets synthetic instruments, similarities to Nils Frahm or Tangerine Dream will be appreciated across this enlightening body of work. » TAKE EFFECT REVIEWS
« Slow, long music for slow, long time. Uneasy, beautiful, beguiling and deserving of a close listen it is an album that rages quietly against the hectic and often hectoring headrush of modern living. » Martin Burns, (DPRP)
« Ligne de Mica, d’après l’œuvre minérale de Léa Barbazanges, en évoque les couleurs intenses mais surtout changeantes selon l’angle de vue, à partir des variations proférées par les ondes Martenot, l’accordéon basse et le clavier analogique » Bernard Vincken (CRESCENDO MAGAZINE)
« The dark and eerie Corridors, inspired by Thai director Phuttiphong Aroonpheng’s second film, Morrison, takes the listener down dark ghostly hallways in an abandoned building » Henry Schneider (EXPOSÉ ONLINE)
« Listening to Singing Stones is an experience filled with wonder. Captivated by unfolding, unknown sounds as they suggest bigger pictures in the mind while pouring nourishing tones into your soul is always a gratefully received prospect. Perhaps the two pieces initially grabbing your attention are the two longest numbers: Crossing and Artic Passage occurring primarily because of the duration of their ideas like sequences of events happening in real-time, sculpting accompanying passengers on a train journey, soaking up the imaginary scenery. » Greg Fenton (MAGAZINE SIXTY)
Ligne de Mica was composed by Snowdrops for an exhibition by the visual artist Léa Barbazanges; in her work "Ligne de Mica", we are impressed by the intense colours of the mineral, whose optical properties change according to the angle of view. The musical composition plays on the particular waveforms of the ondes Martenot, the analogue synth and the bass accordion, three instrumental dimensions that respond, cancel each other out or reveal themsleves - like the artwork itself - in a gesture that is both minimalist and expansive.
The first track on the album is dedicated to Thai director Phuttiphong Aroonpheng, for whom Snowdrops composed the soundtracks to his first two feature films, 'Manta Ray' in 2018 and 'Morrison' in 2023. Corridors finds its inspiration in this second film, and the piece is constructed like a small symphony of breaths, in search of presence and meaning. Aroonpheng also directed the video-clip for The River, a neo-classical piece that is as nostalgic as it is therapeutic. The album's artwork is by Belgian artist Julie Calbert, based on works from her 'Hyperion' series.
Singing Stones is built around two long pieces, Crossing and Arctic Passage, which the duo have performed regularly on stage since 2016, notably at the Opéra Underground in Lyon, Silent Green in Berlin and this year at Autres Mesures Festival in Rennes. In Crossing, Snowdrops deploys its full progressive palette; 20 minutes of a veritable journey from ambient jazz to baroque electronics, to a polyrhythmic, repetitive and mystical coda, a contemporary blend of piano and ondes Martenot. By revealing even more textures, Arctic Passage can be seen as a nocturnal crossing among the ice, decomposing icebergs; an active listening to the natural vestiges of our world, and all that could disappear.
In The Weather Project, a reference to the monumental installation by the artist Olafur Eliasson, Christine Ott and Mathieu Gabry reunite with the viola of Anne-Irène Kempf, with whom they had already worked on Volutes and Missing Island (Injazero Records). But the main guest on Singing Stones is Bartosz Szwarc's dreamy accordion, which adds subtle color to the tracks Ligne de Mica, The River and Dreamers.
SNOWDROPS - SINGING STONES volume 1
2024
Tracklisting :
1. Corridors (6:25)
2. Crossing (19:23)
3. Ligne de Mica (7:10)
4. The Weather Project (9:51)
5. Arctic Passage (17:13)
6. The River (5:23)
7. Phase One (1:47)
8. Dreamers (9:35)
10 years after its creation, Snowdrops returns to Gizeh Records with its 4th album, Singing Stones (volume 1), the first in a series of compositions celebrating slow time and long time, somewhere between post-classical, progressive chamber music and deep listening. In it, the collective founded by Christine Ott and Mathieu Gabry develop their alchemy of analogue and acoustic timbres in a style that is at times interior, intense, narrative or dreamy, and sometimes all at once.
