There are several magical moments on Roger Eno’s the skies, they shift like chords. One comes on the ninth track, when all of a sudden, after eight purely instrumental songs, a human voice starts singing actual lyrics. The gorgeous female voice belongs to Cecily Eno, the artist’s daughter. Her poetic lyrics transport a certain nostalgia for something lost, while at the same time celebrating something being born. Strangely, I Dreamt marks the emotional climax of Eno’s second solo album for Deutsche Grammophon after 2022’s acclaimed The Turning Year.
Roger Eno has been making music for all his life – whether it was playing in bars and clubs and busking on the streets, or playing the occasional solo concert and festival gig, or even professionally playing for care home residents. Already in his late 50s, his career took off unexpectedly into a late-blooming phase. He sent some of his piano compositions to his brother Brian, the famous producer and ambient music innovator, without any clear intentions. But Brian had ideas, and those led to Mixing Colours, their successful collaborative album, and their mutual concert in front of the Acropolis in 2021.
the skies, they shift like chords is an outstanding addition to Roger Eno’s catalogue of the last few years. It’s an album dedicated to place and finding home, reflecting his native landscape of eastern England. The birdsong field recordings of Japanese Rain Garden were actually not recorded in a Kyoto Zen temple, as the song title might indicate, but in Eno’s East Suffolk garden.
In general, Eno’s process is one of editing, of stripping away everything that is not necessary – most tunes start as improvisational snapshots, but while listening to the recordings, he starts to identify notes or segments that the composition doesn’t need. Eno calls himself a “de-composer” for the same reason the legendary producer Rick Rubin had the line “reduced by Rick Rubin” printed on the sleeves of albums he worked on.
the skies, they shift like chords contains the kind of gorgeous melodic piano vignettes he’s become famous for, as well as multi-instrumental pieces, some featuring electronic overdubs. This album sounds more versatile and even more colourful than its predecessors – besides piano and strings, you will hear electric guitar, clarinet, bass clarinet, vibraphone, flute, organ and electronic sounds. One of Eno’s musical co-pilots here is Jon Goddard, a guitarist the composer has known and worked with since the 1970s. He’s playing simple intervals above the chords to some tracks, adding a hazy layer over the surface of the music.
Some pieces on the album are based on poems, others seem to be spontaneous sketches of unspecified moments. Its general mood is one of calm peacefulness, but then again, it’s full of emotional dynamics that clearly sets it apart from easy-listening playlist fodder. This is not fast-food music; you will have to invest time and really get to know this album to truly appreciate it.
the skies: rarities is an eight-track mini album that features unreleased material from the original album sessions from the skies, they shift like chords – solo piano pieces, a track for choir and electronics, one for string orchestra, and another collaboration with guitarist Jon Goddard. For everyone who was longing to expand the beautifully melancholic mood of Roger Eno’s last full-length album, here’s your fix.
by Stephan Kunze