What is a “Spektrafon”?
Well, you’re going to find out on this album with John Blake, as he uses it to accompany his piano for 14 of his “solo” compositions. The electronic doo dad gives an eerie background to reflective chamber ivories on “Sparks” and hovers around a searching “Traces”. Synthscapes build up on the intro to “Rifts” before the piano finally joins in, and even some piano strings get featured on “Tegaki” and the hovering pulsed “Syllables”. High-pitched piano notes give tension to “Calligraphic” and something sounding like a space shuttle looking for extra terrestrials seems to ask if anyone’s out there on the title tune. Conversations with myself.