Aurora Orchestra, Insomnia - Album review

Download: Sleep; Nocturne; Blackbird; I’ve Been High

Aurora Orchestra’s follow-up to January’s excellent American journey Road Trip takes sleeplessness as its theme, with the centrepiece suite of Britten’s “Nocturne” augmented by a few short instrumental pieces and a typically broad choice of songs ranging from Ivor Gurney’s “Sleep” to The Beatles’ “Blackbird” and R.E.M.’s “I’ve Been High”, all sung by Allan Clayton, whose light, clear tenor illuminates the most crepuscular of moods.

Featuring nocturnal reflections from sources such as Wordsworth’s The Prelude and Shelley’s Prometheus Unbound, Britten’s “Nocturne” pairs Clayton with a series of seven obbligato instruments, tracking what Shelley calls the “aëreal kisses/of shapes that haunt thought’s wildernesses”, while the ensuing “Blackbird” incorporates Clayton’s whistling and a bird solo supplied by sound recordist Chris Watson within a small ensemble arrangement.