Review | "Through Passages of Time” + “Sketches in D Minor” by The Hardy Tree
Lost in the sublime musical universe of Frances Castle AKA The Hardy Tree
Two more releases by The Hardy Tree that radiate with their supra-harmonic symphonies and gentle totalitarianism
Both of these records are stunningly accomplished in terms of completeness and maturity, confidently announcing themselves as an intentionally volatile regime of rhizomatic potentialities, a shape-shifting cloud of finely curated tonal parameters
Listening to the gift of now, the time spent with this music is a balm for aching souls, an encounter with a force of healing power unlike any other.
It is an antidote to the aesthetic terrorism of an era that has forgotten how to know the masterpieces of our time.
Released in 2016, “Through Passages of Time” is the first release from The Hardy Tree, the musical project of illustrator and Clay Pipe Records label owner, Frances Castle, which surely makes her the figurehead of an entire audiovisual aesthetic movement.
The mood of this record, in extensive terms, is loosely tied with the hauntological ruminations of the Ghost Box Records scene (Jon Brooks, Belbury Poly, The Advisory Circle et al). However, “Through Passages of Time” bypasses entirely the penchant for the aural tics of municipal parochialism, polytechnic studios, radiophonic workshops, and educational television, a thematic idiosyncrasy that set the work of these alt-tronica predecessors in the very particular realm of institutionalized exotica.
Instead, this record aims directly at an emotional response to a declaration that is as lyrical as it is seductive in its timelessness
An ignored masterpiece are the only words that come to mind regarding “Sketches in D Minor”, the second release by The Hardy Tree (originally recorded in 2018 for John Jervis' WIAIWYA '7 at 77' project, where seven musicians were asked to each create 77 minutes of music in a single track.)
Like an aural perfume that successfully captures the notes needed for any acutely sensitive ear to tune in obsessively, “Sketches in D Minor” is a silent epic for music lovers who appreciate the fine syntax of moral aesthetics. It is also a taxonomical hybrid for those listeners who can discern the slight inflection of various genre accents contained in both releases.
Each musical metaphor is blissfully lost in the magic of a divinely inspired translation, as the stylistic context shimmers gently with reflections of fragile Kraut-tronica, new age light, ripples of contemporary classical, fairycore flutes or even austere, modernist chamber tropes like a stark string solo dominating ambient sounds and exotic percussion.
Angelic choirs pass fleetingly over xylophone solos, subtle synth notes add a relaxed spine to the exquisite corpse of accumulating offerings, one audible present cascading gracefully after another, each contribution to the ebb and flow as unexpected and ethereal as the last, the juxtaposition of instruments as varied as a flute solo levitating over spare keyboards is from soft ceremonial percussion nudging a synth arpeggio along towards a gamified sonata.
It's proudly and emotionally intelligent music creating meditative moments where kindness, beauty, and culture meet, the sound of an advanced civilization aware that aesthetics matter way beyond mere social media trends, extending their spiritual influence deep into the soul of everyone whose life has been saved by art.
Text written by Panagiotis Chatzistefanou, Berlin, January 2024