Ella van der Woude - Sol Mineur. Single. Out today at Snowstar Records

Space!

When I walk over the fair and someone whispers in my ear, I don't hear that. But in a quiet room I can hear the rustling of the clothes and the breath of the person behind me. And what that person whispers is easy to understand.

In the last twenty years I have been studying meditation. Meditating brings me into an extremely subtle state of perception. Nothing but blank space around me. Nothing is urgent and everything, even the most fleeting shadow or impression has meaning and gets my full attention.

Looking at one of those paintings of a gypsy boy with a tear, there is no escaping the painter's concept. BAM! Sobbing or looking away, those are my choices. 

Looking at a pen drawing by Rembrandt or at a painting by Vincent van Gogh or Mark Rothko, I first see nothing. A few ink scratches, a lot of blobs of paint or a few blotted surfaces. And then, slowly, the miracle occurs. A story unfolds. My own story.

And then the music that I hear around me every day. Rigid rhythms, fixed chord progressions, melody lines rushing towards some peak, sing-along choruses. Humming along or turning away, those are my choices. Fine, if time is running out.

But what a relief then is the music of Ella van der Woude. At first it seems like nothing is happening. Stray notes strung together by echoes and background noises. A melody going nowhere in particular. But slowly a space opens up, sketched by notes as it were. A space to be completely alone in. A space where each of those individual notes comes to life and then they whisper their story. My story. Time stands still.

I don’t know whether this music was composed or improvised. And I don’t care. I’m sure it was inspired. It is art.

'Sol Mineur' is the second single from Ella van der Woude, Swiss-Dutch musician, songwriter and composer. Her album will be released on Snowstar Records on February 14.

See http://www.snowstar.nl/

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