Jon Durant & Stephan Thelen - 2021 - Crossings

(65:00; Alchemy Records)

Swiss guitarist Stephan Thelen and his American counterpart Jon Durant conceived and executed the album ‘Crossings’ during the Covid lockdowns of 2020. Each working in his own home studio, Thelen on Lake Zürich, Durant on the Willamette River. Originally, they had talked about working together to create a track for a sampler, but instead conceived a complete album which was composed entirely of guitars (plus one bass part). Sonically, in many ways the best way to describe the music is to look at the album cover as the mystical feeling created by slow shutter speed combined with air and water is a magical way of looking at this.

Both guitarists have worked in multiple different bands, as well as producing solo works, and are renowned for pushing the boundaries of what can be done with an electric guitar, and the use of repeated loops on this album allows them to do just that. It is strange to think that the two guitarists were working on opposite sides of the Atlantic as one can imagine them together in the studio bouncing ideas off each other. The result is almost hypnotic, delicate, and gentle in many ways, and there are sections where one can easily believe it is Gilmour at his most reflective, as they are not out to impress anyone with intense note density but instead ensure they are providing just the right nuances and shades to take is on a journey. Reflective with a dreamy soundscape, this is music which needs to be listened to on headphones when someone really has the time to do just that, as it is way too easy for this to drift into the background and this deserves far more than that.

Kev Rowland, May 2022

Links:
https://jondurant.rocks/
https://www.stephanthelen.com/
http://www.alchemyrecords.com/