10 Oct 2024
UsernamePassword

Remember Me? | Join | Recover
Click here to sign in via social networking

Peake - EP Review: Fearne

04 Dec 2019 // A review by malexa

I have been a fan of Marigold Music ever since they released their first album, Traces’ Monuments To Souls in 2015. It came with little fanfare and their website reveals little about who is behind the label but, from what I can gather, it’s the "love child" of Chris Van de Geer, a two-time Tui winner with Stellar*,and Joost Langeveld, who some may recall was the bass player for Strawpeople, among other bands. They’ve both gone on to make a huge impact as “creatives” on the other side of the industry in advertising, album engineering and production, so it doesn’t surprise that they have been the ears behind albums by the likes of the aforementioned Traces, Arli Lieberman and Levi Patel, all of whom have released music that has made my “best of's” list since 2015. Peake is their latest 'discovery'.

In typical self-effacing style, I only found out about Peake through my Facebook feed. Her EP Fearne is out now – and ready for your ears”. It seems, also, as if Peake (who does actually have a Christian name - Gabrielle) is equally as modest, as, at the time of writing this review she had yet to announce her 'Peake experience' on social media, or, at least Facebook.

Fearne is a rarity in New Zealand music – a solo piano EP, that’s not drawn from re-workings of the classical cannon, and therefore has few reference points. More power to it. It’s an astonishing delight and would be equally at home on one of my favourite overseas labels Erased Tapes, who have delivered us the 21st century piano reveries from the likes of Peter Broderick, Matthew Bourne and Nils Frahm.

I am not qualified to critique Peake on her technique but, as is often the case, with any instrument, you can have all of the virtuoso in the world and still lack soul. Suffice to say, Peake has the skills that might fool the unstudied ear but has the touch and feel that no academic could ever dream to envisage.

Fearne comprises of four tracks – Felt, Colour Fade Away, Fearne and Adieu – and it is the musical equivalent of falling in love and being intimate with someone for the first time. Felt, searches -a touch here and there, notes exploring, questioning, opening, enfolding. Colour Far Away is delicate and gentle, soft, at times swelling with a light intensity not too coloured with emotion and yet fully informed by it. The tile track unfolds with more imagined intention. There’s an assuredness to it, a familiarity that’s as reflective as a life that been well lived but as refreshing and graceful as the perspectives that come from those very same realisations. And then there is Adieu, the more familial French word for goodbye. It does speak of loss in some ways but more the kind that’s gained from those experiences in your life when you were awakened by something new and unexpected but understood deep down that while they have found a passageway into your life they are not permanent, no matter how much you want to hold on tight to them.

If music has a voice that speaks to the soul, then Fearne is another one of its many gifts.

Rating: ( 5 / 5 )
 

Releases

Fearne
Year: 2019
Type: EP
London Tree
Year: 2019
Type: EP

Other Reviews By malexa

DateMonthYear - EP Review: The Exodus Suite
22 May 2021 // by malexa
The metamorphosis of the genesis of Exodus into The Exodus Suite while not quite of Biblical proportions is nevertheless on a grand scale. These five degrees of separation, with accompanying videos (the final installment – which is on its way) might share the same source material but, as always, DateMonthYear founder Trevor  Faville twists and shape-shifts with an informed sense of musical invention.
Read More...
Album Review: Blood & Wires Volume One
13 May 2021 // by malexa
It’s still very much a brave new world when it comes to releasing music with its ever diminishing returns for physical product and the pecuniary stranglehold the major streaming services have on the industry. That’s why Tauranga-based boutique label Blood & Wires deserves a huge thumbs-up for its innovative and down-to-earth but wildly musically ambitious launch.
Read More...
Metanoia - Single Review: Sonder
13 May 2021 // by malexa
It’s always handy for a reviewer to have a bit of background information about an artist to get a creative context of where they have come from and where they might be heading. Metanoia is a bit of a mystery in this respect.
Read More...
Mark de Clive-Lowe - EP Review: Midnight Snacks Vol.1
16 Apr 2021 // by malexa
Mark de Clive-Lowe’s musical palette has always been so refreshing engaging and diverse that each new release is like receiving a care package – you don’t know what’s inside but you know you’ll find comfort in it. The Los Angeles-based Kiwi musician, DJ and night club and record label owner has been particularly busy in the last few years with albums and EPs ranging from the chillingly melodious jazz quartet outing Live At The Blue Whale, the steamingly funky club party Church Sessions with various cohorts and the conceptual Heritage I and II, which celebrated his bi-cultural heritage (he is half-Japanese).
Read More...
Serpent Dream - EP Review: Nova
11 Apr 2021 // by malexa
Serpent Dream's Nova is the debut release on Blood & Wires. The Tauranga-based boutique label was founded by Scott Brown last year with the express aim of raising the “profile of New Zealand based electronic and experimental artists.
Read More...
Mecuzine - Single Review: Blue Skies
15 Mar 2021 // by malexa
The slim-line edition of Mecuzine - brothers Joseph and Tony Johns – seems to have gained more than it might have seemingly lost. Blues Skies is the second single released since five became two and it’s another brooding, sonic masterpiece with an but almost tragically self-effacing punch line: “She wanted him to stay/Instead she got me/What an unlucky break”.
Read More...
Ant Tarrant - Single Review: Candle Lights
09 Mar 2021 // by malexa
Ant Tarrant has served his apprenticeship and it shows. Now back in New Zealand after following his muse to Central America and the US, where he was mentored in the art of song-writing and production, he’s settled in Kare Kare and opened up a music studio.
Read More...
Naircol - Single Review: Turbo Outrun
04 Feb 2021 // by malexa
In an interview with Naircol, following the release of his debut album Isolate late last year, he put collaborative ventures at the top of his wish list. It seems Santa Claus came calling in the form of Canadian producer Tokyo Rat, the result of which is the dynamic driving anthem Turbo Outrun.
Read More...
View All Articles By malexa

NZ Top 10 Singles

  • DIE WITH A SMILE
    Lady Gaga And Bruno Mars
  • TASTE
    Sabrina Carpenter
  • BIRDS OF A FEATHER
    Billie Eilish
  • TIMELESS
    The Weeknd And Playboi Carti
  • ESPRESSO
    Sabrina Carpenter
  • GOOD LUCK, BABE!
    Chappell Roan
  • A BAR SONG (TIPSY)
    Shaboozey
  • LOSE CONTROL
    Teddy Swims
  • TOO SWEET
    Hozier
  • BEAUTIFUL THINGS
    Benson Boone
View the Full NZ Top 40...
muzic.net.nz Logo
100% New Zealand Music
All content on this website is copyright to muzic.net.nz and other respective rights holders. Redistribution of any material presented here without permission is prohibited.
Report a ProblemReport A Problem