Short Reviews [Malcolm Galloway - 2019 - "Transitions"]

Galloway’s 2019 album features three pieces, with “Pattern Jugglers” kicking off proceedings in a manner with which we have to come to expect. Lots of syncopated and staccato notes leads us in, but somewhat surprisingly they take us to “Slow” which is a very different type of music altogether. Atonal, challenging, minor and dark, this is not music to make the listener feel happy and joyful but instead is designed to spread a worrying dread among those who hear it. The drawn out strings combine with delicate brass and piano to create something that is both ethereal and full of substance. Again it is taking us into the dark places where we may not wish to go. Contrast that to the bright and breezy “Transition” which closes the album and is more than half an hour in length. The strings and woodwind tie us back to “Slow”, but the repeated looping melodies from other instruments are bright and feel somewhat evocative of Oldfield. Electric guitar is gently plucked, the marimba is there providing runs up the staircase and there is even percussion which is unusual in these works. It is these really long pieces where Galloway shines as he has enough time to build, repeat, and gradually move through the different stages he wants to direct us to. Overall not a style of music I often listen to, but I certainly feel musically much richer for having heard these.