Levi Patel – ‘A Shifting Lightness’
New Zealand composer Levi Patel unveils his first full-length album since the critically acclaimed Affinity in 2017. Today, Levi shares A Shifting Lightness –a 13-track exploration of Lightness and Memory, out now and available on all digital platforms.
Surrounded by the natural light of the small coastal town of Matakana, the early sketches of the project took place whilst living alone in Patel’s family home over an 18 month period. Written in isolation, the flow of his journey exploring light and memory would evolve into subtle melodic ideas, built around the central voices of piano and strings.
“Given time, memories become brighter and more beautiful. Spending so much time alone allowed me to reflect on my past, which came with a warm nostalgia but at the same time I knew that my feelings weren’t always a true reflection,” says Levi of the compositional process.
A Shifting Lightness begins with pieces such as the poignant and emotive With Wings Falling, a continuation of Patel’s delicate string arranging, released as a single in 2019. It then moves through darker pieces such as the sparse Through Winter Eyes, an intimate piano and cello duet featuring a breathtaking performance by cellist James Bush. The piano later takes a step back as in Words Like First Light, where Patel’s orchestral instrumentation offers moments of heart-warming optimism, and in the guitar and electronics-dominated All around us.
The album was recorded with the detailed attention of engineer Jacob Rush, mixed by Simon Gooding at Roundhead Studios, and co-produced by philosopher and musicologist Jeremy Reid. The artwork was created by Edgar Melitao and Corban Koschak, wholly informed and guided by the environment the music originated in.
“The studio is half underground, so from where I was writing every day I could only see through a single window above ground,” Levi reflects.
Levi’s journey properly took flight in 2014 with his self-released EP Forms, which was followed by second EP Of Sleep and Time, the spiritual home to much-loved composition As She Passes, which has received well over 10 million streams across Soundcloud and Spotify. Levi released his debut full-length album Affinity in 2017, and is currently developing a robotic musical instrument as part of an installation at The Museum of Moving Image in New York City.
