‘Eight Reflections in Darkness’, released 14th April via Tonal Institute / AWAL Sony, is the latest solo electric guitar record from Martyn Heyne, in which he presents a series of introspective, personal vignettes. When the Berlin-based artist first recorded the album, he ventured to a church, capturing the reverberation of his guitar. But he realized that wasn’t what the music needed – these compositions were about simplicity and honesty. So, he went to his studio and re-recorded it with just his guitar and a couple of amps, leaving in the breaths, foot taps, and finger-picked sounds that come with a live performance. In this form, Heyne taps into the music’s intimacy, encouraging us to look inward as we listen.
The new single ‘Ludwig’s Wonder’ is here
Heyne’s guitar playing has appeared everywhere from being in the indie rock band Efterklang to solo performances on tours with Balmorhea and A Winged Victory for the Sullen. A classically trained player, his music often takes a genre-fluid format, collaging a variety of classical and popular idioms. Much of his prior work employed a variety of instruments to make full, upbeat melodies. 2020’s ‘Open Lines’ brought in cello, piano, and a slew of percussion instruments. But the sound he chooses on ‘Eight Reflections in Darkness’ takes his work into a new, softer direction that emphasizes his stripped-down voice and captures a fleeting moment in time.
Tracklisting:
- ‘Snow on the Leaves’
- ‘Trial, Triumph and Disaster’
- ‘Ludwig’s Wonder’
- ‘Starkly’
- ‘Burning Burning Burning’
- ‘Yugen’
- ‘Dance of the Dead’
- ‘Fire in My Eyes’