‘Phraxia’ is the third album by multi-instrumentalist and composer Nick Pike, following on from the positive reception of Norastoria and Evergreen. The album is relatively quiet in its presentation, but what it lacks in volume, it makes up for in poise and confidence. Solo piano takes the forefront with subtle synth layers and textures hovering gently in the background. Opener “Whispertide” is a bright piano-led number punctuated with tiny waves of synth ebbing and flowing like the tide itself. This sentiment is reflected in the track’s composition, a sense of stillness captured within a perpetual motion. “Abaluna” is slightly more meditative, with notes lingering on longer and the textures reduced to a whisper. The title track “Phraxia” picks up slightly on its predecessor, in an almost leading-lamp manner. Pike holds a more assertive hand in “Phraxia”, with the piano guiding and the electronics gently following. This back and forth between two distinctly different eras is what gives the album such a current feel, while never feeling cold.
“Aroha” has a more emotive chord progression, with soft chords and its patient plodding manner. The track has an air of nostalgia about it, for the reason of the artist himself being sincere. “Deepward Glow” has an aquatic quality to it, with notes hanging in the watercolours of a wide ocean and each one floating by in syrupy slow motion. “Für Beethoven” is, as the name implies, a creative pastiche of Beethoven himself. More specifically the works of “Für Elise” which Pike gradually distorts and recontextualises into something entirely new, without losing the sense of its original self. It is playful, as well as a deeply meditative and inventive showcase of Pike’s compositional prowess.
Finale “Vangise (Water Lullaby)” is as if the ocean herself was cradling you as you drift into sleep. “Mareel” twinkles gently in the dark, almost as if the name was an ironic joke on the artist himself. Richer harmonies are introduced with “Minavra”, and “Maramor” carries with it the sense of stillness and calm, bringing the album to a close. ‘Phraxia’ doesn’t make any statement, nor does it try and awe you with bombast. It asks you to breathe, to pause and simply to be.
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