Okkyung Lee - Na-Reul (Black Cross Solo Sessions 3) [Corbett vs. Dempsey 082 Promo]

Released only recently as cat.no. 082 of the Corbett vs. Dempsey imprint is "Na-Reul (Black Cross Solo Sessions 3)", the new nine tracks and roughly 38 minutes spanning album outing created by Korean composer Okkyung Lee who, like many likeminded artists, saw her life and therefore also the production of this album affected and overshadowed by the pandemic situation and the emotional troubles that came with it - in this specific case losing the connection with the cello as her instrument of choice and artistic expression. Finally finding a way of reconnecting and getting accustomed to the process of making music again after an extended break via the invitation to make this album Okkyung Lee focuses on an interesting approach of layering slightly deferred, mostly unprocessed cello lines atop of eachother to achieve what could be described as a ghostly, somewhat naturally dubbed out realm in some pieces whilst cuts like "Mountains" fully indulge in large scale melancholia and the intimate beauty of Classical Chamber Music on a rainy sunday afternoon, "Mirage" fuses prominent plucked low frequency strings with wild, free-riding and partially filtered avantgarde cello improvisations to a surprisingly calm and tender effect, "Lorelei" pairs ancient rhythm signatures with brooding low-end bass movements to create a fever'ish, spine-tingling whirlwind of a track that we confidently call out as our most favorite on this longplayer whereas "Wings" seems to be born out of a well unsettling nightly vision and provides the soundtrack for twisted nightmares and "Grey" seems to be a worthwhile sonic reflection and bleak representation of the personal, and oftentimes depressive, struggle the artist had gone through prior to the making of this piece before a shimmering, chiming sequence provides a little bit of light a the end of the tunnel. Go check.