Carolyn Hume: Solo Piano Works

In the past, among other things, Hume's music has been described as "chill out. While it is easy on the ear and unwinds at its own pace without any gratuitous displays of virtuosity or pyrotechnics, it is not easy listening—at least not in the pejorative sense of the phrase. It is music that can be used as background, without causing offence, but the more attention is paid to it, the more it delivers.

The music is "mainly improvised, but it is impossible to detect the joins between sections that are improvised and those that are not. It has an easy, natural ebb and flow. Throughout, it is full of melody and harmony, replete with repetition which recalls Satie, Eno, Harold Budd and various minimalists (and also Lola Perrin, who is currently working in a very similar vein to Hume). The longest track, "Ephemere, is also one of the best, typifying the album's strengths. To hear it, plus tracks from all of Hume's albums, visit Carolyn Hume on the web.

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