Nala Sinephro – Endlessness

For those who embraced it, Nala Sinephro’s debut album ‘Space 1.8’ offers a glimpse of the divine. Unshackled from expectations, it founds the composer – and her trusty harp – moving into the unknown, easing the listener into unfathomable spaces. As a follow-up, ‘Endlessness’ comes with no small degree of pressure. Remarkably, it ups the ante still further, an ode to life, beauty, and the joy found in the mundane, an audio diary that could only come from one voice, at one time.

The format is remarkably simple, allowing vast swathes of sound to be tethered to a definitive framework. Clocking in at 45 minutes, it features 10 tracks, with one continuous arpeggio running through the record, shape-shifting along the way. The cast is utterly glowing, containing a literal who’s who of British freedom music – (now ex) black midi drummer Morgan Simpson for example; Mercury nominated saxophonist Nubya Garcia; the wonderful Sheila Maurice-Grey, and many more.

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In truth, ‘Endlessness’ is a hard album to assess. Do you point out the stunning piano work on ‘Continuum 2’? Or lean towards the synth line on ‘Continuum 6’ with its call-back to Nala’s rave-infatuated youth? Perhaps we should pin-point the frosted ambience of ‘Continuum 8’? Yet that in itself ignores the wonderful whispers that permeate ‘Continuum 4’.

Less an album to be ranked and rated and more a full-on listening experience, ‘Endlessness’ is a remarkable record, a project that borrows from dozens of voices while communicating in only one. Somehow eclipsing the magic inherent in her debut, ‘Endlessness’ finds Nala Sinephro operating in a creative universe of her own.

9/10

Words: Robin Murray

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