Old Friends New Friends gathers solo piano pieces recorded by
Nils Frahm between 2009 and 2021. None of these tracks have appeared on the artist's albums, although some of them have surfaced online through compilations, YouTube, or other means. Recorded in different settings on different instruments, the album has a scrapbook feel, capturing certain states of his life and his artistry over the course of a dozen years. It also has a considerable range of moods and textures, from dry and dusty sketches to the windswept, weathered "Rain Take" and the faded, crackling "Todo Nada." Much of it seems intimate and up close, with clacking keys audible on songs like the stirring standout "Berduxa" and the more mysterious "All Numbers End." "The Idea Machine" has a hissy, vintage sound, as if it were recorded on an ancient device such as a wire recorder. A sequence of tracks in the center of the album, such as "Then Patterns" and "New Friend," contain warm, inviting melodies, with "Corn" having a rolling, train-like rhythm carrying it along. "As a Reminder" switches to billowing, harp-like clusters rather than clearly defined notes, and pieces like "Iced Wood" and "The Chords" continue in this more ambient, textural direction. Even though
Old Friends New Friends doesn't contain any obvious epics similar to the most well-known pieces from
Frahm's ambitious albums like
All Melody and
Spaces, there's still an abundance of highlights, and even his smaller-scale works can resonate in a big way. ~ Paul Simpson
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