Mesmerizing and hypnotic tunes from Iamthemorning pianist/composer Gleb Kolyadin and his ensemble.
Release Date: 28th February 2025
Label: Kscope
Formats: CD / Vinyl / Digital
SCI-FI-INSPIRED ODEYSSEY
Born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in 1989, Gleb Kolyadin is, unquestionably, a master of his craft. He studied classical piano at the world-renowned St. Petersburg Conservatory and, in 2010, he paired up with vocalist Marjana Semkina to form award-winning chamber-rock duo Iamthemorning. He’s also played with tango ensemble Orquesta Primavera and has participated in a wide-range of collaborations with the likes of Árstiðir, Gazpacho and Djivan Gasparyas.
It’s not stretching things to describe Mobula, solo album #4 from Iamthemorning pianist and composer Gleb Kolyadin, a Masterpiece – and I’m not the writer to do so. Described as “A sci-fi-inspired odyssey that captures the spirit of grace and exploration, embodied by the album’s titular oceanic creature,” Mobular – the first of Gleb’s solo albums to be entirely conceived and produced in the UK – is an uplifting album. An album to savour, to play repeatedly and to listen to deeply. A Tubular Bells for the 2020s, if you like…
A NOVELLA IN SOUND
Mobula takes the form of 14 short stories-in-music, each one described as a “Novella in sound,” and it’s very, very special. Gleb is joined by a host of supporting musicians, each one a supremo. Special upfront mention is due to percussionist Evan Carson, bassist Zoltan Renaldi, Ford Collier, whose assortment of whistles and exotic woodwind instruments evoke all kinds of images from the wild to the pastoral and to Charlie Cawood and his array of strung and keyed instruments. They’re not Gleb’s only guests, but they appear on most of the tracks and they each play a key role in making Mobula the album it is.
BRIGHT AND UPLIFTING – AND A STUNNING ANIMATION
Passages of light, tinkly keyboard (a harpsichord, perhaps?) and some glorious, slithery, organic basslines from Zoltan get opening track, Parallax, underway. Evan’s busy percussion rattles and chatters whilst Gleb and his team explore the potential of a bank of keyboard instruments that include piano, glockenspiel, organ and synth. The music is bright and uplifting – like the dawning of a spring day – before guest Ilya Izmaylor’s cello brings the piece to a peaceful conclusion.
Lead single, Glimmer, introduces new styles and folk elements for Gleb, taking listeners on a journey through sonic landscapes, shifting times of day and deep space. The piece builds to a frenzy as Gleb’s initial piano motif is joined by Zoltan’s firm, reassuring, bass, Evan’s percussive devices swish and swoop and Ford’s low whistle brings a dash of scorching desert air to the proceedings – and take the time to watch Natalia Ryss’s stunning handcrafted animations in the official video to the track!
A mellow piano tune, Afterglow brings a sense of calmness, after the excitement generated by the latter stages of Glimmer. The accompaniment is pared right back – Evan contributes the gentle sound of breaking waves, PJ Flynn’s bass is soft and subtle and the rest is left is left to Gleb. The brief Dawnlight sounds exactly as its title suggests. The gentle chimes of glockenspiel and guitar providing a Japanese setting – the Land of the Rising Sun, of course…
INSTRUMENTAL SHOWPIECES
It’s churlish to pick out a favourite track from an album as consistently engaging as Mobula, but – if pushed – I’d go for the rich, relaxing, pastoral Radiant. Ford’s the star of the show here with his whistle and bansuri (a type of Indian flute) until Gleb steps in on his piano to take the piece into jazzier territory. Observer – a short, contemplative piano passage from Gleb – gives the listener a brief opportunity to lie back and dream, before Charlie takes centre stage with his zither for the still-dreamlike Transient. Things become rather more stately as Gleb adds streams of piano and guest Vlad Avy sprinkles a few highlights of electric guitar.
Gleb’s pensive piano notes reflect the sparkle of the piece’s title with Crystalline before Ford and his zither return to centre-strage for Fractured. Henry Isaac Bristow’s violin brings an ominous drama to the piece. A drama that’s heightened by the crashes of Gleb’s piano and the thuds of Zoltan’s bass. The spectacular Tempest is another piece that thoroughly lives up to its billing. Gleb’s piano tosses, rolls and turns, whilst crashes of percussion from Evan provide the thunder and flashes of lightning burst from Liam McLaughlin’s guitar. It all ends, predictably, in a stormy climax.
A STORM AND A HAPPY HOMECOMING
The gentle Nebular is the calm after the raging storm, before Ford launches a salvo from his entire arsenal for Shimmer. Yet another of the album’s standout tracks. It seems to me that guzheng, zither and taishogolo all play their part, and the music does, as the title suggests, shimmer. Gleb introduces a classical flavour when he adds his piano and the music veers off into more exploratory waters, before Ford’s magnificent array of stringed things re-emerge in time for the big finish.
Starfall is a dreamy, frosty piece – definitely more Snowflakes Are Dancing than Tubular Bells – with some nice glissando piano from Gleb and spacy guitar licks from Vlad, before Gleb closes the album with the comforting Gaia. Named after the Greek Goddess, the personification of the Earth, it’s a piece that, somehow, ties up all the loose ends and signifies a happy homecoming. A return to the start.
I’ve already said it, but I’ll say it again. Mobula is an uplifting album, an album to savour, to play repeatedly and to listen deeply to. It’s mesmerizing; It’s hypnotic. Enjoy it.
Watch that amazing animation from Natalia Ryss – the official video to Glimmer, the album’s lead single, below.
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