In Dethick, three singular voices - Angharad Davies (violin), Rie Nakajima (sound objects), and Alice Purton (cello) - trace the edges of collective improvisation and material inquiry. The project began from a shared fascination with resonance: how certain preparations and actions could invigorate stringed instruments and inanimate objects alike, blurring the distinction between music, sound art, and noise. Each musician brings a distinct lexicon - Davies known for extracting spectral sonorities from prepared violin and minute bow pressure, Nakajima for her sculptures and interventions with amplified objects, and Purton’s deep, resonant cello grounding the group’s interplay.
The music evolves with patience and curiosity. Glass, wood, friction, and breath move as equal protagonists beside bowed strings, inviting listeners to reconsider what belongs in the frame of chamber interplay. The trio’s dynamic is neither coercive nor ornamental; instead, attention flows between the faintest creaks, the grain of rosin, the unpredictable patter of objects, and fleeting melodic gasps. Their improvisations let space and uncertainty become compositional forces, resulting in textures that are raw, luminous, and disarmingly intimate.
Dethick stands as a testament to the fragile power of collaboration at the edge of audibility. With sparse gestures and an ear for acoustic surprise, Davies, Nakajima, and Purton construct microcosms where tradition and experiment coexist in uneasy harmony. The album’s quiet radicalism echoes long after its sounds decay - a reminder that deep listening can reanimate the ordinary and yield realms of possibility concealed within each gesture and pause.