Jury's reasoning: With the album Personal Piano, the concept of personal expression becomes inadequate. This is like musical DNA in album form. Personal Piano is the destruction of known genre barriers. Here, jazz, noise music, art music, electronica, pop, folk songs and indie rock are mixed in a unique way. What should a piano be in 2015? Or what can it be, for me? That train of thought, the […]
/ 17/03/2017 / codexThe jury's reasoning:
With the album Personal Piano, the concept of personal expression becomes inadequate. This is like musical DNA in album form. Personal Piano is the destruction of known genre barriers. Here, jazz, noise music, art music, electronica, pop, folk songs and indie rock are mixed in a unique way. What should a piano be in 2015? Or what could it be, for me? That train of thought, that challenge, Qvenild has dedicated his last years to. The album is the result of three years as an art fellow at the Norwegian Academy of Music. Morten Qvenild has explored the expanded tonal possibilities of the grand piano through the use of various forms of electronic manipulation, and has ended up with a "relaunch" of the instrument - where all the possibilities of the recording studio are available live.
The music is intensely personal. Electronics, samples, drum machines, synths and vocals create distorted landscapes. When virtuoso improvisations on acoustic piano are also allowed to take place, the spectrum is complete. Qvenild does something with us. It is deeply human and poignant. The distilled, deconstructed, intensely low-key and insistent expression is definitely original even though the references go in all directions. As a composer and musician, Morten Qvenild has a keen ear for melodic music and an ever-present melancholy. He masters the balance between quirky and listener-friendly, with songs that speak to both the heart and the brain. The music is brewed on curiosity and the urge to create in combination with a solid nerd gene. The album is disturbed and restless, but suddenly loose and wind-wracked. There is unrest, but still no panic to be detected. The highlights are coming soon, and it is a great experience to be part of Qvenild's musical diary.