Lucy Claire – ‘Suite’

Here’s something almost unbearably sad. The key thing here is that pianist Lucy Claire’s track Mildew gets remixed by Manchester’s Winter Son (previously here) to end up with something that has neo-classical origins but given some gentle 707s to play with. Free download.

Lucy Clare is a London-based composer. She is releasing a two track EP (plus the remix) on This Is It Forever Records next week. It also comes as a limited edition CD. The original tracks are piano, strings and a broken heart. Of it she says “It is music that takes you outside, into unfamiliar settings but with familiar sounds. The milieu of the world is present in the tracks, warm and comforting yet strange and haunting. There is a slight dust on all the sounds.”

Rituals in Dust is slightly disconcerting from the use of binaural recordings alongside the piano and strings. It’s the achingly sad violin that captures the attention. The pace never gets above funereal. For Fantasia on Mildew (there’s another cheery title) the binaural sounds form the introduction and make it more like those composers who flirt on the edge of electronic music. Piano and violin get equal billing. But the mood remains resolutely melancholy. This may not be the best thing for those who are sad-of-heart.

And so to the Winter Son remix of Mildew. The introduction of drum beats comes as a bit of a relief, as does a little clattering to offset the piano. This is a beautiful remix, adding an extra dimension to the original and making it head-noddingly good. Winter Son says of the remix “Lucy’s sullen piano chords were a dream to play around with, and I just watched the track grow as I dropped a grainy 707 beat in.”

Mildew (Winter Son’s Awoken Ground Remix)