'Sven Laux is a Berlin-based artist and composer who returns to Dronarivm following ‘Paper Streets’, which was released in 2017. He has also previously released on labels such as Archives, Whitelabrecs and Archipel, producing anything from modern classical to experimental minimal music.
Daniela Orvin is also based in Berlin, a pianist, musician and composer who has to-date released her second album ‘Home’ on Sven’s ‘Seasides On Postcards’ label which to many, became a stand-out recording in 2018.
Around a similar time to the release and creation of ‘Home’, Sven had been creating some tracks for an album and felt that there was something missing. After casting his ears over Daniela’s work, he realised that piano was the missing piece of the jigsaw that he had been searching for in the album he had been culminating. He invited Daniela to his studio, they walked through what had been created up to that point and she became inspired to the point that they began to work together. The process was very intuitive as piece by piece their own styles collided effortlessly into what has become a completed album project.
‘The Writings’ plays out in the exact order in which the tracks had been worked on, providing an accurate account of the studio time in which these stories had been etched. During the process, Sven and Daniela became friends and the concept of the album itself has become about collaboration itself.
Typically when artists work together in tandem, particularly in modern classical or ambient music, the result tends to be loud and powerful, as the two voices compete for the sonic space. This is not so in ‘The Writings’, as the artists showed great restrain between one another, a respect for each other’s expertise. Piano isn’t everywhere on this album, nor are Sven’s ‘hollywood strings’. Both are present, along with many many more wonderful elements. But each is afforded its own time and space, in a truly patient but evocative and enthralling listen, best enjoyed from start to finish.'
- Harry Towell
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'[...] The Writings is very cinematic at times with piano figures set against hovering strings in a way that echoes Thomas Newman. At other times it deftly mixes tonality, abstraction and noise, like the hisses, crackles and droning cellos and organ of “Fading Lights.” The gorgeous “Same Situation Different Perspectives” is openly loving, an evolving drone of orchestral strings and synths that steadily expands and embraces you like the sunrise. [...]'
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www.ambientmusicguide.com
(Best Albums of 2019)
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'Another entry for Dronarivm and a record collaboration between my good friend and collaborator Sven Laux alongside Daniela Orvin. The duo met over several studio sessions and this is their output, a cinematic epic that includes icy cold dramatics, slow and brooding soundscapes, warm and charming ambience and fuzzy orchestration. Check out ‘A Moment Of Silence’ in particular and be prepared to be amazed. What’s particularly impressive here, is just how effortlessly the two styles of these artists combine.'
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www.irregularcrates.com
(End of 2019: A list and a mix by Harry Towell)
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'[...] Auch wenn die Beiden ihren Wurzeln in den Musikbereichen letztendlich treu geblieben sind, so ist die Vielschichtigkeit und Komplexität des Albums exorbitant hoch. Der Grundton ist ein verträumtes, leicht lakonisches Klanggerüst, das mit viel Emotionalität aufgewertet wird. The Writings ist so ein Album, welches sich ausschließlich eignet, wenn in hektischen Zeiten ein Ruhepol von Nöten ist. Die Musik ist ruhig und gedankenverloren, mit leichter Melancholie durchzogen.'
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gezeitenstrom.weebly.com
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'[...] Then, it all goes momentarily John Carpenter and it’s a nice shift. Really nice. Quite a complex moment of off-script associations. We are now in Nordic crime territory.
The Writings track sees the pair explore planetary surfaces (and interior alignments) in an expedition Shackleton would be proud of. It’s pretty much a strings and delicate piano call-and-response here, but it brings back earlier refrains, echoing the start of the CD.'
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www.irregularcrates.com
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'[...] It would be an overstatement to say that this kind of mixture of new classical and ambient compositional styles represents the future of classical music. There’s too much history there, and too much depth of variety in the tradition for its focus to narrow that entirely. But as long as artists make records as compelling as this one, it is safe to say that The Writings is a fine example of what some of the best new classical made in the years ahead will sound like. [...]'
- www.themoderns.blog
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'[...] Qualsiasi cosa è sospesa, levita sinuosa sopra il loro interloquire, rende leggero anche il nostro passo mentre li seguiamo non visti attraverso i territori del suono che maestoso avvolge questo intenso racconto intessuto con le più raffinate vibrazioni che la dottrina ambient sa donare. AFFINITA' ELETTIVE.'
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www.rockerilla.com (June 2019 issue)
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'[...] La collaborazione tra i due è scaturita dunque quale naturale conseguenza, adesso presentati sotto forma di un vero e proprio dialogo artistico, rispettando l’itinerario creativo lungo il quale si è sviluppata; come le tappe di un’ideale corrispondenza, i brani di “The Writings” mostrano le “voci” dei due in maniera individuale e congiunta, evidenziandone così i caratteri specifici e i frutti della loro combinazione. [...]'
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www.musicwontsaveyou.com
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'[...] As much as both styles compliment each other, they also contrast with each artist giving a flip side to the particular piece of music. While the initial parts are separate, the duo come together in the final stages of the track to meld their parts nicely. [...]'
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driftingalmostfalling.wordpress.com
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'[...] The expert balance between the piano keys and the electronic/programming doesn’t get much more elevated than this. When the two artists come together on articulate pieces like Same Situation, Different Perspectives (Part 1) and the consonant A Moment Of Silence there’s a rhythmic familiarity, it’s as if these two have been working together for decades, but this is their first collaboration, and hopefully not their last.'
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www.toneshift.net
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'[...] Un incrocio a partire dal quale è lentamente emersa una vicinanza di approccio e sensibilità gradualmente sfociata nella realizzazione di un comune tragitto che vede alternarsi e intrecciarsi la peculiare cifra stilistica di entrambi, un torrente che scorre placido affiancando e combinando le ariose e a tratti granulose frequenze di Laux con le tessiture immaginifiche di piano ed elettronica della Orvin. [...]'
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sowhatmusica.wordpress.com
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'[...] It is in the clouds just below consciousness that The Writings will be truly known. Harmonies play and progress, but sometimes become lost – floating to the forefront over and over again. Long unhurried chords emerge out of a soft aura of reverberation, as the music is performed in measured motion – a limitation that does not prevent Laux and Orvin from capturing many moods. In their brief spell, compositions reveal a withdrawn melancholy. While some pieces drag themselves down to a near standstill, others float along surrounded by thick silence – their sonorities given time to reverberate within the listener. Inside its nearly stationary atmosphere this album unfolds. [...]'
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starsendradio.wordpress.com
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'[...] The album contains five tracks where they perform together, and is completed by two ‘solo tracks’ each. As a result, ‘piano isn’t everywhere on this album, nor are Sven’s ‘Hollywood strings’. Both are present, along with many many more wonderful elements.’ Elements perfectly matching and complementing each other, together delivering a beautifully balanced atmospheric album.'
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www.ambientblog.net
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