Seascapes by Poppy and Norman Ackroyd

It all started, for me, with reading Alex Ross’s genius history of 20th century classical music ‘The Rest Is Noise’ back in 2011. As a classically trained pianist with a competent basic knowledge of composers from Hildegard Von Bingen to Steve Reich and Phillip Glass, and a former music journalist specialising in black music, jungle, drum and bass and UK garage, I wanted to know more about classical and modern classical music. Reading Ross on modern classical alerted me to less well known figures like Messiaen and Boulez as well as explaining giants such as Stockhausen and it prompted me to explore and discover their music further. And obviously the availability of such things on Spotify made the whole process even easier, not to mention cheaper.

It was through my writing for Electronic Sound magazine that I discovered the Neo Classical scene and wonderful composers and producers such as Hauschka, Max Richter and Nils Frahm and I suggested to them that I interview one of the few women on this scene - the composer and pianist Poppy Ackroyd - between 5 and 10 years ago now. I cannot remember what she was like - apart from thoughtful and likeable. It seems to me that it’s only the ‘challenging’ interviews that really stick in my mind (DM me or email me if you want to know who they were!). But I do remember her telling me about her Dad, Norman Ackroyd, a well known artist and Royal Academician and their poetic inspirational visits to uninhabited islands around the coast of Britain.

Now the father and daughter duo, have, posthumously (sadly Norman died aged 86 in September of last year) collaborated on a single ‘Notes on Water’ which can be heard on Spotify and You Tube. If you don’t love Poppy’s rippling and undulating, constantly transmuting and transforming piano arpeggiations, which are in my opinion gorgeously meditative and mindful, then you might well love her Dad’s considered mark making and etching of a seascape that accompanies her music. It is a truly inspired collaboration and evokes the ocean, seabirds and open water like nothing else. I love it. And in the spirit of this Substack where I try to focus on things that are minimal in cost or otherwise free, all you need is WiFi and Spotify or You Tube to listen to it/see it.

Something in the punk, post punk, Sonic Youth and Fall younger listening me might dismiss the Neo Classical scene as polite dinner party ambience, but I can’t help feeling there’s more to the music than this. It allows a post Steve Reichian exploration of textures, images, tones and evocations that is truly nuanced, gentle and zen. It is filmic in the best possible way, a post Michael Nyman traversing of emotions and melodies. It suits middle aged me, thoughtful and mellow at times, lets put it that way! And I hope you’ll love it too.