Terrain

Description

Terrain, a three-part suite inspired by American minimalism and ambient music, exploring new musical perspectives. When Duncan Bellamy and Jack Wyllie, the driving force behind Portico Quartet, came together in their East London studio in May 2020 and began working on the music that would become their new album, most of the world was in the midst of the first lockdown. Creating Terrain, they were drawn to longer, slowly unfolding pieces, which are perhaps the most artistically free and also the most beautiful they have ever made. Terrains I, II, and III are all subtly different, but a short repeating rhythmic motif is the starting point for all three movements. There is a sense of a shared journey across all these pieces. They move through different worlds, with a feeling of horizontal motion that gives the music real momentum. It is this sense of dialogue, both between the composers, and between tranquility and a subtly unsettling melancholy, that makes Terrain such a powerful statement. One that speaks to both our inner and outer worlds, our own personal landscape, our Terrain.