Pietro Zollo‘s Surface Tension can best be described as a minimalist drone album, but that does not mean there’s little happening soundwise. The twelve tracks, ranging from 3’54” to 16’38 show a remarkable diversity, ‘allowing textures, harmonies and timbres to shift almost imperceptibly over time’.
By adding elements such as piano loops, Zollo prevents the album from becoming too monotonous and thus keeps the active listener interested throughout the full two hours and seven minutes playing time. Drone purists, on the other hand, might consider this more ‘ambient’ than ‘drone’ – which shows that labelling music is always difficult. Let’s just say that this is a perfect album to sleep by, for meditation, as well as for active listening and to shut out the outside world.
The Italian artist aptly chose the physical phenomenon of ‘surface tension’ as a metaphor for these tracks: ‘Just as an apparently motionless surface can be the result of invisible powers, a state of mind can conceal hidden currents that continue to act beneath what is visible. Emotions can be imagined as the result of a continuous alternation between tension and release.’
Surface Tension is divided in two sets of about one hour each, so this would’ve perfectly fit a 2CD album. But it isn’t: it is only available as a digital download. Generous as ever, Projekt Records offers this gem as a Name-Your-Price download!
