Track Listing
Charlotte the Brave and Larissa the Bold
Flatpicker / Sam Bacon’s Blues
Resolution
Cascade
A Deep Sea Diver’s Blues
Stumpy and The Bear (Will You Not Come Back?)
(©℗ A. I. Jackson 2024)
When I lived in Sheffield I got very interested in climbing, its artistry and ethics. A Test Piece is the title given to a climbing line that shows you where you are up to in your journey as a climber. Like a musical line, a climbing line is also an expression of the imagination and ability of the climber who first puts up the route. The lines in Test Pieces reflect my musical imagination and where I was in my life when they were written and recorded. Like a climb, each piece features a crux - this is usually the most difficult move, emotional moment, or technical challenge that connects the line. The album was recorded using climbing ethics: onsite, in one pass, with no rehearsal of moves ahead of time.
This made recording challenging, both the in situ parts and the final production where each piece is contextualised by moments of what was happening around the recording, and insights from people like Johnny Dawes on the links between creativity, performance and personality.
Released as the companion piece to Songs For Separation in November 2024, to find out more about Test Pieces writing, production and release go to Origin(al) Stories.
