Highly inspired, the adventurous American musician leads us on a shimmering journey, exciting from start to finish.
A songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Steven Brown entered the big musical scene in the late 1970s, within the seminal post-punk group Tuxedomoon. At the start of the following decade, the American embarked on a parallel path—solo or with other bands—firmly marked by boundless exploration.
Having settled in Mexico since 1993, he has launched various projects, notably Nine Rain, a group at the confluence of several sonic continents, and Cinema Domingo Orchestra, a collective dedicated to creating original scores for classic cinema.
A sparkling rendition of Shostakovich’s Waltz No. 2
Following the excellent El Hombre Invisible (2022), his new solo album borrows its title, In This Very World, from a poem by William Wordsworth, which also informs Wordsworth, one of the sung tracks on the album.
Among the other pieces are Pyramids, a striking spectral ballad, and a fairly free cover of Panic in Detroit by David Bowie (the original appearing on the album Aladdin Sane). Between the songs, instrumental pieces slip in, notably Danza de la pluma, a graceful track lighter than air, Nakba, a splendid stretch of melancholic jazz punctuated by a dreamy trumpet, and Walz Nr.2, a sparkling restitution (in a solar brass-band fashion) of Shostakovich’s Waltz No. 2.
Recorded with musicians from diverse horizons, including the French Benjamin Glibert (Aquaserge), the ensemble, highly cinematic, takes shape as a richly colorful crossing, beating with life from start to finish.
In This Very World (Crammed/PIAS). Released on February 20.
