“Sixteen blissful, piano fused tracks, that remain pure and maintained throughout this smooth, piano focused LP.
A re-issue under March’s new label Hidden Shoals (previously released last year in November), Nights Bright Days creates an artistic balance, between the isolation and admiration found in pop and piano based music.
The essence of isolation feels more apparent on March’s piano based track, yet feels oddly inclusive and warming. We are welcomed into March’s own isolation, her habitual abyss for anyone to becomingly gaze upon her poignant work.
March’s vocals carry this admirable isolation in between soaring gracefully, no louder than the glow of the morning sun, retaining consistently high pitch and focus, while remaining simple and charming, to then becoming as smooth as a bottle of aged whiskey, with an ever so slight husk in her tone, that resonates a stroke of jazz into her calming performances.
Collectively, Nights Bright Days becomes a piano based album at heart, with some notable turns to the recognisable fixations of most singer songwriters, on leading track Winter Deep as well as Boho Night, Orpheus Head and Dream Swim, all finding their own fixation of fusing pop with classical piano.
Within Nights Bright Days opener, Winter Deep, broken folk melodies combine with March’s similarly themed vocals for an unassumingly misguiding opener. When placed in comparison with most of Nights Bright Days; the elegant piano tones found on most of the LP’s tracks, become buried underneath a wave of ambience from confusing contemporary folk, altered by the progressive styles of singer songwriter influences, and minute pop intrusions.
Welcoming N-B-D as a contemporary move on ambient, folk-pop quickly becomes dismissed by the following two tracks Café Des Poètes and Boho Night, whose focus on ambient synth pop, rather than the introduced folk pop, feels more apparent than the latter, Boho Night especially.
Feeling more lucid and tangible, with dreamy synth tones flowing simultaneously with March’s vocal layering and electrolysed drum beats, a neo-pop flare that’s not to far from the likes of Michael Flynn’s latest LP, becomes illuminated and enticing to hear. This synth, neo-pop flare can be felt throughout most of N-B-D, almost in perfect unison with March’s more intricate, piano pieces.
The latest single from N-B-D, Ember is the prime example of March’s ability to cast aside the bright eyed feel of her pop influenced tracks, for more endearing, beautifully executed piano tracks that grow like the warming fire on a cold Winter’s night. Similarly on Orpheus At Sea, a soft glow can be felt from the piano keys struck in ready precision, as the growing intensity feels controlled and comforting.
The thought of a controlled growth is necessarily essential for March’s Nights Bright Days. On a first note, seeing sixteen tracks feels ambiguous, splitting people into two groups of keen, enticed listeners, and those who may deem the LP a challenge to complete. The idea of N-B-D being a challenge rather than a pleasure may take a few attempts to defeat, but once March’s vocals and piano skill become welcomed, N-B-D will quickly become a lucrative edition to your minds music bank.”