Silent Stories are the ones we hold closest to our chest, only revealing them to those we most trust. This is the topic of the debut album from pianist, singer and composer Sofi Paez, the first release from Ólafur Arnalds’ OPIA Community. “It’s very difficult for me to open up”, she writes in the press release, “I’m afraid of telling people too much. So these are the silent stories that I carry with me every day”.
It’s a fascinating concept for a predominantly instrumental album because while the inspiration for the music might be the emotions Paez felt when emigrating to Berlin from Costa Rica or after the death of her beloved grandmother, we’re unaware of what event connects to each piece so we can hear the heartfelt music as the soundtrack to our own silent stories. Paez’s decision not to centre herself but instead to centre the emotion makes the music universal.
There’s some exceptional sound design on display, as “Por qué” in the video below demonstrates. Paez’s gorgeous voice floats ethereally above apreggios played on a gently prepared piano that almost sounds like a harp, enhanced by gentle pads and swelling bass.
In album opener “New Beginnings”, wordless embryonic vocals grow from a tiny seed into a beautiful grove. If you close your eyes, you can sense the rich forest all around you. “Amsterdam”, by contrast, is a perfect depiction of the threatening glittery edge of the darker areas of that gorgeous city. The final track, “Here Again” is beautifully sweet—it’s quite utterly charming—but a close study of the lyrics reveals a deep melancholy.
Deeply humane and very touching, Sofi Paez’s Silent Stories is a fantastic debut album and a very promising first release for Ólafur Arnalds’ OPIA Community. (Garreth Brooke)
a closer listen 