Jenny Conlee
's distinctive accordion and keyboard work has helped shape the sound of stalwart indie rockers
the Decemberists
for over two decades. On her own,
Conlee
has applied her cinematic style to instrumental releases like 2015's
French Kayaking Music
, which served as the soundtrack to the documentary Voyagers Without Trace.
Tides: Pieces for Accordion and Piano
is her most intuitive and enjoyable work to date, an evocative collection of neo-classical solo pieces split into two halves that evoke the mercurial nature of the open sea and its flora- and fauna-flecked shorelines. Part one is built around ancient musical scales called the seven Greek modes. Spare and haunting, the suite pairs the melancholic textures of French film composer
Yann Tiersen
with the bucolic, sometimes dissonant English folk music of
Leveret
and
Three Cane Whale
. Part two adopts a more playful tone, with
delivering five piano pieces, each built on the foundation of a repeated musical phrase or rhythmic pattern called an ostinato. Together, the 12 songs form a cohesive, mind's-eye narrative that's meditative, sad, pastoral, and hopeful. ~ James Christopher Monger