Album: John Metcalfe, Matthew Barley, Constant Filter (Signum Classics)

Most recently to be found helping Peter Gabriel transform the cover versions on Scratch My Back, John Metcalfe here furnishes cellist Matthew Barley with a series of pieces mostly composed for solo cello and electronics.

Using computerised octave-splitters and delay units, Barley achieves a surprising depth of sound and harmonic richness, particularly on the title-track, where echoing wisps of electronic sound flutter around the cello like butterflies; Lonely Bay, on which the concentration necessitated by using a 40-second loop imposes a deep meditative calm; and The Appearance of Colour, where the slow accretion, note by note, of a single 25-note chord produces an imposing serenity.

DOWNLOAD THIS Constant Filter; The Appearance of Colour; Lonely Bay