Nala Sinephro – Endlessness
Nala Sinephro returns with Endlessness, an ambient jazz record that explores the cosmic cycle of existence
You don’t need to believe in reincarnation to appreciate Nala Sinephro’s latest album, but as a device for forcing you to listen closely and ponder deeply, it works beautifully. An album of permeable borders and diverging paths, Endlessness sees the Caribbean-Belgian composer and her collaborators fuse elements of avant-jazz and electronic music into a 45-minute composition split into ten distinct movements. Continuum 1 opens proceedings as Morgan Simpson’s loose, rolling drums and James Mollison’s mournful saxophone take turns navigating the complex stellar tapestry created by Sinephro’s modular synth, whose spaced-out arpeggios give the album a feeling of momentum.
Positioned somewhere between Alice Coltrane’s transcendental meditation on grief, Journey in Satchidananda, and Éliane Radigue's monumental work of mourning and transition, Trilogie de la Mort, Endlessness is a deeply sensual journey into that most fundamental of unknowns. On Continuum 7 the sound of Sinephro’s undulating synths creates a sense of weightlessness akin to wandering through the bardo, as bursts of celestial beauty guide you through this liminal space. By the time Continuum 10 closes the album with a flash of rapture, and a gentle piano progression that signals the closeness of the next rebirth, it feels like your soul has been thoroughly cleansed.
Listen to: Continuum 1, Continuum 6, Continuum 10