Moves in the Field

by Kelly Moran

In just one word, Moves in the Field is stunning. Unlike many of Moran's previous releases, the songs here are all solo piano, or rather, solo Disklavier. Listeners expecting clinks, plonks, or scranks will be sorely disappointed when listening to the album, but that does not mean they should stop listening! On the contrary, Moran's use of the Disklavier on this album shows just how full and beautiful a piano can sound on its own, without any timbral bells or whistles. There are bells and whistles, though, but they're more on the level of the performance than the level of the instrument. You can't tell who is who just by listening, or maybe you can if you really try to think about what keys are being struck and when, but there are always two Kelly Moran's playing on any given song. The Disklavier allows her to record her own playing, then have the piano play it back while she sits at the same piano, hitting other keys. If you'd like to see how this actually looks in practice, we recommend checking out Dan Tepfler's 2019 release, Natural Machines, which is available in full on YouTube. On the album, Tepfler improvises duets with the help of the Disklavier, feeding his performance in and having it given back to him in real time. The first song on the album, "All The Things You Are/Canon at the Octave," is a great example of this, as Tepfler plays along with the piano, always staying just a tiny bit behind it, producing interesting cadences and melodies. It's helpful to see this before listening to Moves in the Field because the performative aspect makes each song that much more impressive.

It's all quite nice that Moran was loaned an instrument that stoked her artistic fire, though one wonders how the album would have sound had she not gone down Disklavier Avenue and instead stayed her course on the Prepared Piano Highway. Well, one doesn't have to wonder! In 2020, Moran released the song "Sodalis" as a part of the Field Works Ultrasonic compilation and ended up reworking it into "Sodalis (II)," which appears as the 5th track on Moves in the Field. So, by listening to these two tracks, it is possible to see just where the two instruments diverge for Moran. Sodalis on its own, just as a composition, is beautiful in the vein of Aphex Twin's "Avril 14th" (which comes from druqks, an album that makes heavy use of prepared and player pianos). The original "Sodalis" recording starts with a texture, some small rumbling, followed by the distinctive metal dynamics of the prepared piano. The notes dither for a minute or two, building up the basic rhythm of the track, before a noise sweeps across the mix (a bow across a piano string?) and the main melody begins. The track is cluttered, then not, then cluttered again, then not. The bass in the song is a constant murmur, the high notes twinkle, and everything between is some mixture of the two elements in different proportions; an entire orchestra emerges out of one instrument.

"Sodalis (II)" is a minute and a half longer than the original. Instead of rumbling, it starts with chords—wet chords that reverberate into the mix. After about 30 seconds, the main melody begins, and instead of an entire orchestra, we have an entire piano. Notes are coming from everywhere; it sounds like four hands. Without any concerns for texture, Moran focuses on composition, filling all the empty spaces with more and more notes and chords. It becomes particularly mesmerizing when the main melody takes a backseat to a flurry of high-note arpeggios and quickly shifting bass chords, and when it ends, repeating that melody just one more time, one already has their finger hovering over the rewind symbol.

It is fitting that Moran titled the album “Moves in the Field,” a term used in figure skating, and chose a photo of a figure skater as the album's cover art and as the subject of the music video for the album's lead single, "Butterfly Phase," because her music is just as delicate, precise, and impressive as any routine you'd see on the rink. On every track, her hands skate across the keys, making loops and jumps, knowing exactly where they need to be and when. Not just Moran the human, but Moran the Disklavier as well. They come together and move as one; they transcend the limitations of one player; they become superhuman. It's hard to pick a favorite out of these 10 songs, though if we had guns to our heads, we would admit that "Sodalis (II)" and "It's Okay to Disappear" are a bit better than the rest. The problem is that they just work so well together. If you listen to "Butterfly Phase," you have to listen to "Superhuman," and then you have to listen to "Don't Trust Mirrors." It almost feels as though you don't have a choice; you can't take your ears off of it for one moment. Without words, just a Disklavier, Moran has shown how music can become a mirror, but unlike a mirror, one can reach into music and interact with their own reflection, changing a solo skate to a couple's routine.

Read the full review on MSMR.substack.com !