Moving away from the barrage of electronics for once allows Kelly Moran to flex more of her classical skillset. ‘Moves in the Field’ careens its piano compositions into genuinely moving and flooring sets of melodies that are always in touch with the emotional core.
Every time Kelly Moran starts perusing melodies on her piano, there’s always the presence of disruptive embellishments that she adds to the notes that let them spiral out into barbed sonic tapestries. In her past two projects, Kelly Moran’s piano compositions have been twisted and splurged into prickly and maximalist soundscapes that carry their melodies into another dimension, whether that be the spiking chimes and tonalities on ‘Bloodroot’ or the synthetic warbling that floats above like darkened skies on ‘Ultraviolet’. However, after 6 years of muted stasis, ‘Moves in the Field’ seems to be taking away the prickly electronics and carefully giving the piano the real focus this time around.
With the disruption out of the frame for this entire record, Kelly Moran’s piano melodies become more free and expressive as a result, navigating onto a blank canvas where the notes and chords just pile on into a refreshing bliss coming from the change of stasis. Allowing nothing but Kelly Moran’s reverberating piano compositions to just let loose and explore creates a genuine sense of playful charm and joy that permeates all across the album, making out a project that’s filled to the gills with elegance from the careful emphasis on the Disklavier piano and Kelly Moran flexing her skill within the classical vein. The gleeful crescendos that pop across ‘Superhuman’, ‘Moves in the Field, and ‘Dancer Polynomials’ add a sense of freeing tone as they serve as a wonderful companion to the minor chords that emphasize a dramatic mood to the compositions, then there are cuts like ‘Leitmotif’ and ‘Don’t Trust Mirrors’ where it surfaces a hazy, glitchy smear that subtly also pops up on other songs as well but is much clearly identified on these songs, with the former cut’s glossy cocoon of chiming notes creates a bright flair that gets ever increasingly hopeful and the latter cut’s more melancholic expression from the stabilized pace of the composition gets shackled apart a bit from that glitchy touch, yet that composition never truly decomposes as it keeps on going, that stream of melancholia now converted into a stream of strength.
It’s not always the playful tapestries that Kelly Moran is willing to embrace within the album because she does dive low and create compositions that are a lot more introspective yet never sacrificing the essential focus on crafting melodies, allowing the lowkey moods to feel effervescent. Besides the aforementioned ‘Don’t Trust Mirrors’, there is also ‘It’s Okay to Disappear’ where the movements of the chords have a feel of wandering around and seeking the answers that it wants to discover, a tone that’s crafted wondrously as the melodies glide with an insightful edge that eventually resolves with the major notes staying behind to finish off the song. Then comes ‘Hypno’, a song that fits its title as the pristine harmonies and major chord lines take center stage as the melodies have an ethereal lilt to them, carrying the tune within the skies that’s ever so comfortable and warm to hear, letting the mood float along the strong composition.
Even then, there are minor quibbles to this majestic piece. The starting and closing tracks do work more to introduce and end the album with melodies that felt more explored further with more flair and melody. Then there is also ‘Sodalis (II)’, one of the melancholic cuts that just ends up becoming a less interesting tune, mostly due to the melody itself going to a prim tone that might open up a lot more on the very end. However, it takes a while to get out of that still space.
A project that catches one’s attention on first listen and grasps them even more closely on subsequent listens, ‘Moves in the Field’ tilts to more modern classical tapestries that majorly take out the shambling electronica in favor of Kelly Moran’s classical piano expertise to truly shine, with melodies and tones that impressively is filled to the gills with endearing and moving compositional tact through and through. Carrying an emotive flair that’s genuinely touching and never losing sight of its essence on every path it takes and the shambling dimness that it encounters. When one keeps moving in the open field, there is an expanse that allows the emotions to seep through and grow as time passes by, moving into emotional tapestries that deepen their touching presence.
Favorite Tracks: ‘Superhuman’, ‘Don’t Trust Mirrors’, ‘Dancer Polynomials’, ‘Leitmotif’, ‘It’s Okay to Disappear’, ‘Hypno’, ‘Moves in the Field’
Least Favorite Track: ‘Sodalis (II)’