Bleep

If you’ve heard a particularly well-placed classical intonation in the work of Little Simz, Actress, Frank Ocean, Radiohead and Jónsi, there’s an enormous chance that Robert Ames was responsible for it. Having also worked closely with 20th century greats like Steve Reich, Terry Riley and Pauline Oliveros, the UK composer, arranger and conductor has been a key crossover figure of contemporary popular and classical music, consistently approaching the two spheres with the same reverence.

It is precisely this sensibility that informs the grandeur of Change Ringing, an album of titanic scope and deeply meditative power, each violin drone seemingly a gateway to a higher plane of existence. We begin with a brilliant ray of light in ‘Peal’, an endless vibration drawn from one shining chord. Oscillations continue into the likes of ‘Tympanum’, which features the dazzling circular arpeggios of Warp's Nala Sinephro, as romantic Steve Reich indebted layers emerge from the aether of ‘Cinque’, which features the beautifully melancholic violin work of Galya Bisengalieva. At the head of the work is the majestic phoenix rise of ‘Rounds’, a 13-minute odyssey from exhaling choral sections to the swell of strings ascending to the rafters.

Change Ringing is a rare work of sophisticated brilliance, made even more memorable by Ames’ wide-eyed faith in the elemental power of music.