Sonder
★★★★
This an intriguing album from a West Country-based duo with Riley playing vibraphone and Garden playing the violin supported by bassist Steve Toddler. Entirely instrumental the 12 tracks are all original compositions with a strong jazz influence.
What makes the album unusual is that each track has a title in different languages but with a meaning explained. The title track is defined as the realisation that each passerby is living a life as rich and complex as your own.
This thematic thread runs throughout with the first track Vellichor celebrating the strange wistfulness of bookshops while the Russian title Toska expresses the longing for the need to escape but lacking the energy to do so.It is almost as though words are unnecessary and the instruments just explain the meaning to the listener.