SAUNDER JURIANNS
Like a true master craftsman, the bag of tools from which works of art are created is an extensive and well honed one. Expansive, rich and wonderfully eclectic, Phantom Limb is an album that can not simply be enjoyed in one sitting but requires many, many nights of appreciation and repeat listens. The depth of musicality and fullness of the record only becomes apparent after digesting the many different facets of each track and putting them in context with the entirety of the album. A truly magnificent piece and that commands attention.
The compositional prowess of Saunder Jurriaans is immediately on display with the opener 'A Little Lie'. A complex of percussive arrangements, meld harmoniously with cascading bass lines, tiered vocals, delicate piano and swaths of guitar licks. There are worlds within worlds and each intricate element, an entity in its own right, is in and of itself, a wholly united and magical piece.
The opening creak of the piano stool chair that comes from being sat on in an old studio floor, hints at the unashamedly honest and raw sentiment that Jurriaans is desperately trying to express on 'An Idea'. A most exquisitely simple but achingly beautiful piano piece accompanies Jurriaans desperate pleas to seek out and find a loved one. A longing to genuinely reach someone who can not be gotten and who is tantalizingly just beyond the proximal zone of touch.
Not afraid to include purely instrumental works into the fabric of an album, Jurriaans 'Afternoon Rain' is a light sonic shower. An audible mirror to the pattern of rain, it takes the natural peaks and troughs of a downpour and captures that movement in sound. Crystallizing a moment in time enshrined through keys, the simple peace doesn't just embody a time and place but also shows a tender boldness of Jurriaans inclusion of the song as the third track in on the album and fundamentally that it was included at all.
Shifting gear, the inhalation, exhalation, percussive heartbeat and rhythmic clapping on 'Everything Shines' forms a comparable background to the dichotomies Jurriaans speaks of throughout the track. A sense of wild and captive, introvert and extrovert, the irony and frustrations that exist in an irreconcilable space are evident both musically and lyrically.
The attention-grabbing intro on 'Los Angeles' is grand and as Jurriaans begins his commentary on the high-end brands and glamorous lifestyle of the City of Angles, the disconcerting off-key piano suggests that lurking just below the shimmering surface lies a black underbelly. The cinematic quality and grandiose delivery of the track is apt in the way its inflated and triumphant sound is overblown and vacuous, much in the way Jurriaans is describing a sunny place for shady people.
A finger picking acoustic number, 'Little Song Of Death' is a simple ode to humanity and the often overstated but under executed practice of treating fellow man right. Swiftly moving on, 'Ovulos' departs earthly concerns in a spiritual updraft of orchestral delights. Composed of eloquent piano, violins, violas, and cello, the soaring strings reach emotive highs with most gracious ease.
Too much to say and too little time in which to say it, 'Eyes Of Fire' arrives with a sense of urgency and impulse. Rapid fire guitar and short-circuit drums give way to a period of clarity. A moment of respite amid the digital chaos as wistful piano takes over and anchors the confusion to something familiar. All the while, there still feels like an internal struggle Jurriaans is wrestling with and eventually this to can not hold back the tide as explosive guitar returns, as it rips through the barricade to again steal control, a decent back into madness and disarray.
An interlude to the final end, 'Her Ghost' is a brief segue between all that has preceded and for what is to follow. The short piano peace is unnerving and a little disjointed as it farewells a troubled time and sets sail for sunnier shores. Destination España. A warmth and hopefulness positivity radiates from 'What You Have' with an acceptance of all things.
