Thomas William Hill
Asylum For Eve
LP, CD and download
'Asylum For Eve' refers to a hypothetical imagining of ‘Mitochondrial Eve’, the theorised matrilineal ancestor of all living humans, reincarnated in today’s world of restricted movement. Threads inspired by this juxtaposition of division and connectedness run through the album, which drifts from plaintive piano-led passages to brisk chamber music and back again, tied together by the textured layering of found sounds and instruments that distinguishes Thomas’s music.
After tracking down an old Bechstein Model 9 upright piano, Thomas set about modifying and preparing it with cardigans, screws and nails in order to provide the textures and timbres which characterise the album’s dense, affecting sound. Techniques also employed on the album include the intricate layering of bowed guitars and ukuleles, and fingerpicked violins, banjo and charango. It’s these processes, coupled with Thomas’s high quality composition and musicianship, that see the album at once expansive and intimate.