Saloli - Canyon (2023) [Official Digital Download]

Portland pianist Mary Sutton's second full-length for Kranky is another deep dive into the classic Kosmische playbook, informed by her roots as a Cherokee Nation citizen. Easy on the ear and based around a simple synth-delay setup, you can hear the same Satie-esque influence of her fine “The Deep End” debut carry through, tipped if you’re into anything from Patricia Wolf to Suzanne Ciani.

"On Canyon, Saloli delves deeper into her roots as a Cherokee Nation citizen (Saloli, pronounced like “slowly,” is the Cherokee word for ‘squirrel’). The album is intended to evoke “a day in the life of a bear in a canyon in the Smoky Mountains,” with each track channeling a different emotion or experience in its daily explorations. As with her 2018 debut, The Deep End, the entirety of Canyon was composed and performed live on a Sequential Circuits MultiTrak synthesizer – but this time routed through a delay pedal. This refraction adds a lyrical spatial quality, as though “echoing off canyon walls.” It's music both gentle and adventurous, curiously rooting through soils and streams, in a sustained state of discovery.

In Cherokee teachings, humans and animals are considered to have no essential difference – originally, all the creatures of the earth lived together in harmony. Canyon captures shades of this Edenic notion across eight elegant pieces, alternately meandering, pensive, playful, and pure. Sutton’s playing, as always, is dexterous and dimensional, mirroring the dazzled senses of its muse."

Tracklist
01. Waterfall
02. Lily Pad
03. Snake
04. Yona
05. Silhouette
06. Full Moon
07. Nighthawk
08. Sunrise