Goldmund: Sometimes

Keith Kenniff’s latest album for his Goldmund project is another spare, bittersweet collection of piano tunes. Sometimes was recorded in Kenniff’s off-time from producing other people’s music. The songs were often recorded at night, and 16 of the 17 tracks here were improvised and recorded in just one or two takes. The spontaneity comes through on some of the record’s best moments. “Cascade” plays each haunting notes off the space around it. The title track builds in such a fragile, incremental way, you almost don’t notice its final, sweeping effect. It’s a bit telling, though, that the best moment here was planned out and recorded with Ryuichi Sakamoto. That song elevates the dark shadows of these other tracks to some sort of dim yet transcendent light. Around it, these other solo pieces exude a contemplative stillness, one that can be affecting but can also — especially in the record’s second half — fall into sameness. This is still a solid, deeply felt record, another fine offering from Goldmund, but its best parts suggest the whole could have been something more.