The latest Elizabeth Velvdon track is quite distinct from other recent work of hers. Where her “The Pure Water, Filled with Light”” was a solo piano work marked by brief moments of melodic fragments and sudden stoppages, her “The Frost Is Setting In” is a deep, “longform” drone that tests the listener’s patience at the same time as lulling the listener. Like those two opposed responses, the track comes in alternating waves, short ones that arrive in brief, dependable cycles, like a boat adrift on a mechanical current. The word “longform” is one that she herself has applied to the track as a tag, along with “minimalism” and “cold drone” and, for good measure, simply “drone.” The word “longform” is used most often in description of online writing, of pieces whose length allow for a depth of exploration and insight, research and perspectives. Here, there is certainly an immersive intent, but the piece, quite the contrary, is still and singular, despite its extended length.
Track originally posted for free download at soundcloud.com/elizabethveldon. More from Veldon, who is based in Glasgow, Scotland, at elizabethveldon.tumblr.com, twitter.com/elizabethveldon, and elizabethveldon.bandcamp.com.
