Brave Timbers - Secret Hopes [Sound In Silence 032]

Coming in from the Greece-based Sound In Silence-camp only recently is their cat.no. 032,  the "Secret Hopes" album created by Sarah Kemp and her fellow musical mate Andrew Scrogham under their creative moniker Brave Timbers. Presenting a total palette of seven songs on this limited and hand-numbered bit the pairing amalgamates elements of Ambient, Score and melancholia-infused (Neo)Classical music in the opener "Stillness", which is surely rich in kitsch, beauty and glamourous innocence at the same time whilst the subsequent "First Light" adds a pure, folksy guitar and simple, traditional string melodies for more of a naturalistic element. With "Swimming In The Isar" a piano comes into play, following along the lines whilst the duo possibly aims to depict the feel of Munich, hence the river Isar is located there, on a lazy late summers day. The instrumental Folk-orientated "Seasons Past" picks up on that vibe and so does "In The Long Grass" although coming across a little more thoughtful and autumnal due to a seemingly slower pace. Following up is "Coming Up For Air", another bit of epic Piano Ambient beauty on kitsch overload which can only be described as pure seasonal contemplation given the fact we're writing this review on December 23rd before the final cut "From A Mountain" is providing a peaceful, super-harmonic conclusion to an album that might be a little too much of a sweet one for some but well cater the needs of many Ambient lovers after a troublesome year 2k16 for a reason.

Album artwork on Instagram!