Kuruvinda By Kirsten Agresta-Copely

 

Kuruvinda

By

Kirsten Agresta-Copely

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

Since the years of 2019, our airways and our ears have been graced by the beautiful harp of Kirsten Agresta-Copely, on that wonderful day a single called Fall Leaves, Fall was gifted to the world, a song about my favourite time of the year, I sit here now at the end of a burning July and have the greatest of pleasures, as I bathe in the sonic tones of her latest creation Kuruvinda.

The opening piece of this 10 track wonder collection is entitled Shadow Light, there is a blissful texture here that reminds me of artists like Michael Allison (Darshan Ambient) and Harold Budd, the upper echelon of ambient music perhaps, Kirsten has that same magical touch, just the right tenderness, brings forth on this offering and many others, the perfect sense of ambience.

The following musical narrative contains a charming global resonance and is called Ratnaraja and features Ismael Lumanovski on what I now know as a Turkish Clarinet, the vibrations and tones that flow from this graphic novel of musical plenitude are sumptuous, and combined with the Harp of the artist manifest what must be called a meditational moment of mystery and imagination.

We will talk about ambience a lot in this review, the music itself is one of the finest examples of it, here on the title track doubly so and of course called Kuruvinda. Kirsten states that it was “inspired by the Sanskrit word for a flawed but radiant ruby, Kuruvinda reveals a journey to embrace imperfections, reminding us that every imperfection is part of our brilliance”, I love that. Here Kirsten has manifested something beyond beautiful, and is one of my personal favourites from the album, one that had that slow, ever moving forwards energy about its construction that made it completely undeniable.

Intertwined features Dave Eggar on cello, and Jessica Meyer on viola, and with the composer on harp, something exquisite is born, there can be no doubt that the multi-instrumental nature of this offering makes it even more attractive, and also adds a global flavour into this melting pot of musical brilliance.

At the mid-way point of the album came the most reflective offering from the release called Wordless Voice, one could possibly even find a classical motif weaved between the vibrations of the opus as well. This for me is one of those tracks you don’t want to take lightly, and will more than likely find its way onto your playlist of choice for eons to come.

Quiet Core is now upon us and this, without doubt is one of the most calming slices of ambient genius I have heard since the days of Eno and his massive hit album Neroli, that being said the elegance created truly turned on the light bulb of memory for me, when Budd and Eno combined to give us First Light, this is a sparkling testimony of respect to Kirsten, to have captured such a mood and feeling within a track like this nothing more than genius, and you have guessed it, my personal favourite from the album.

Tracks like the full flowing Samskāra, a Sanskrit term used in many philosophical musings, and the overall ability to make choices that reflect upon our life’s path, again the composer not only gifts us a lush and colourful offering, but one that ponders the very nature of the cosmic and karmic forces around us. This is followed by the deep waters of the manifestation called Threadline, an emotive creation that floats between the harbour of sanctuary, and the open seas of freedom.

The penultimate track is called Untold Story, once more we are joined by the stunning combinations of both Dave Eggar on cello and Jessica Meyers lush viola. This cinematic offering is not only tranquil in its energies, but a piece that allows the mind to float freely on a bed of serene clouds, and distinct possibilities of what could be to come, in an as of yet unrevealed future.

The concluding narrative is a calming reverie called Saṃtoṣa if my memory serves me right, I think it refers to let’s say contentment, as there are many different spellings of the word across many philosophies. However the musician in choosing this final parting gift for us all has created the perfect farewell moment, in style the performance remind me of Patricia Spero, but the soothing pastiche of calm created here made this with ease the best end to an album of this elk ever.

Kuruvinda by Kirsten Agresta-Copely could well be one of the most beautiful albums I have had to good fortune to review for years; here is a release of simply idyllic and perfect musical combinations, and all over them manifesting energy of calm and serenity along the way. For me there can be no doubt that this should be a huge chart hit and surely even more could well be hovering on the horizon of greatness for, Kuruvinda by Kirsten Agresta-Copely.