Spencer Zahn
's placid and sorrowful opening piano notes and
Dawn Richard
's whispered if conspicuous entrance -- "Life draped me in an unfitted white dress" (whew) -- signal that the duo's second album together is not a sequel to
Pigments
, their first. Circumstances alone differentiate the LPs.
Quiet in a World Full of Noise
is based on solo piano pieces that
Zahn
recorded after a breakup. His instrument was tuned to the acoustics of the room, lending a slightly unorthodox quality to the results.
had no desire to do anything with them until
Richard
listened and was impelled to write. The collaboration grew with strings from
Bryan Senti
and brass from
CJ Camerieri
, plus synthesizer and fretless and upright basses from
, and swelled with the addition of
the Budapest Film Orchestra
's sensitive support -- one grand display excepted -- in the second of three movements. The piano lines capture
in an unmoored state. Soured romance barely scratches the surface of what
is processing. She struggles with the murder of her cousin and examines the dynamics of her relationships with her mother and severely ailing father. Self-preservation is a recurring theme, written about in a particularly vulnerable way throughout the delicate title song and later "Diets," where
seems to be gathering strength as she sings softly about tightening her inner circle. "The Dancer" turns up the heat with a send-off to someone who courted evil.
finds space elsewhere to honor her family with affection and humor and to celebrate and recharge herself. In contrast to
, on which
found a way into
's constructions like another instrument, this puts the singer at the fore with somber and serene performances that are purely documented and not lacking in potency.
and his fellow instrumentalists provide sympathetic accompaniment that is too far too alluring to be classified strictly as ambient; it facilitates the intent to provide respite for the listener. A kind of survival tool,
is one of the most remarkable albums either artist has made. ~ Andy Kellman