Tracklist:

01 Sway
02 Flicker
03 Crush
04 Moments Like Drops
05 Savage Bliss
06 Passing/Arriving
07 The Sun King
08 Summoning
09 The Mistress of Time
10 Juno
11 Amber
12 Mothlight

Genre: Neo Classical

Piano notes and large violin melodies are the opening sound of ‘Sway’, pertinently called as it is. The sounds are crude, empty and dramatic, portraying the atmosphere of the entire record. ‘The Amber Sessions’ is not a normal Jo Gabriel release, for its mostly lacking the voice work, moving in the same atmosphere as ‘The Last Drive In’. It is called ‘lo-fi neoclassical work’ but it is more like a collection of free willed improvisation; like sketching in the middle of a dream. The largest highlight is taken by the piano, and those who do not appreciate this instrument should be aware of this record. The entire album is brimming with piano notes and they can become a bit overwhelming after diverse compositions.

‘The Amber Sessions’ is less dark than ‘The Last drive In’, opening a more casual, emotional sensitivity in Jo Gabriel, but also keeping the record mostly very regular in its compositions. I actually really appreciate the vocal work of this New York female singer songwriter, so the lack of singing comes out as a puzzling emptiness in a too thick piano worked composition. From the songs I find most interesting we can find the naïve ‘Moments like drops’, where the piano lines intertwine in a lucid, candid and folk-like drumming. The song comes upwards and downwards in a whirl until it’s kidnapped by silence. ‘Passing/Arriving’ surprises the listener with the introduction of violent screeching samplers, with an inner rhythm, over which the piano line moves slowly, as in a dream of as if it were walking through thick mud and its boots were slowly being brought down. The melody hardly shifts in pace, yet manages to become more desperate as the songs goes on. Yet when it seems almost impossible to manage, the track shifts into a languid, peaceful floating. ‘Summoning’ is definitely one of the most soundtrack oriented themes, creating a vibrant, inspiring anticipation with its fast paced sounds over longer, darker synths. …Perhaps the beginning of an image, where one almost can’t follow its main character due to the velocity of its movement and actions.

‘The Amber Sessions’ is a complicated, dense and wizardry sort of record. Either you connect or you don’t. If you don’t, it’s a long travelling through the album. But if you do, you just sort of need to close your eyes and let the piano notes take over, like a soothing rain that fall one after the other over your head with closed eyes, as if Jo Gabriel were able to bring them from her own realm into the greyness of ours.