Music

he music I love can be divided pretty cleanly into two categories: accessible and instantly gratifying, or reciprocal; the kind of music that offers a return in proportion to how much time and attention you’re willing to give it. During the UK’s Covid lock-down in 2020 I lost a lot of my freelance work and found that using the spare hours I’d gained to sit with the albums that required me to put some, started to gain huge amounts of attention upon its release the following year, I realised I wasn’t the only person feeling more receptive to ‘reciprocal’ music. The album consists of one long piece in nine sparse movements with a repeated motif – as background music it barely registers, but it will reward your full attention richly. I’ve noticed more and more similarly meditative, earnest records being warmly received since then, and UK jazz artists have been capitalising on this space and freedom to stretch and expand and let the music take its time. I approach certain gigs now with a standard of self discipline, knowing if I let my attention wander, I’m missing the point.