Sophia Vastek has enjoyed success as a pianist whose performances and compositions beautifully blend neoclassical, ambient, and jazz sensibilities. With her latest release comes a new name, Sova, and a new sonic aesthetic, leaving plenty of space for unique instrumentation and exploration with a small ensemble of players. Alight! is not so much a reinvention as it is a natural expansion of her already magnetic sound.
Joining her on Alight! are multi-instrumentalist Sam Torres, cellist Clarice Jensen, bassist Spencer Zahn and drummers Evan Chapman and Max Yassky. The sound is rich with possibilities, giving the players an exciting sense of interplay that best fits a unique, ambient take on jazz combo performance. The opening track, “Heavy Shit”, moves luxuriously at a slow tempo with a wide, cinematic feel, and booming chords bring much melodic gravitas.
After some impressionistic opening notes, “Hum” settles into a soulful groove, with melodies and instruments interlocking beautifully. Alight! has moments of exquisite beauty, such as on the neoclassical-leaning single “Quarry”, where Jensen’s strings and Torres’ saxophone provide an effective counterweight to the intricate piano runs.
Sova was immensely inspired by contemporary Polish artist Hania Rani, who also moved from traditional classical piano to a more boundless style that incorporates electronics and multiple collaborators. Keith Jarrett‘s vast catalogue also provided ample inspiration, as his style emphasized a lack of boundaries and limitless imagination. The mix of jazz soloing and ambient touchstones on “Hymn for Slowing”, and the heavily percussive use of piano on the chilling “The Owls Are Not What They Seem”, show an artist unconcerned with following traditional styles.
In the closing track, “Vast”, she returns, at least partly, to her earlier style with a solo upright piano, rich with cavernous echo and the instrument’s inherent clatter, notes scattered sparsely and deliberately. It’s a gorgeous, disarming, unvarnished end to a record filled with sonic possibilities, borrowing bits and pieces from jazz, classical, soul, and ambient experimentalism. With this new direction, Sova’s path is exciting and refreshingly unpredictable.