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Promises

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Work

Promises · Sam Shepherd, who makes music under the name Floating Points, heard Pharoah Sanders's debut record Elaenia in 2015. The saxophonist, then seventy-five, became friends with him, and together they conceived an album. Shepherd wrote the music and played many of the instruments himself. Recording took place in the summer of 2019 in Los Angeles. In the summer of 2020, during the pandemic, the London Symphony Orchestra recorded the strings in London.

The album is a single composition of more than 46 minutes in nine movements. It begins with a short sequence of notes on synthesizer, piano and harpsichord, which keeps returning. Sanders plays sparingly, atmospherically on tenor saxophone and sings wordlessly in the fourth movement. In the sixth movement the strings swell. Critics praised the dreamy atmosphere, and the album was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize. It was Sanders's last album.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen in Movement 4 to the voice of Pharoah Sanders, singing without words. Notice how it complements the saxophone and the repeating notes.

Track list

  1. 1Movement 16:24Apple Music ↗
  2. 2Movement 22:31Apple Music ↗
  3. 3Movement 32:32Apple Music ↗
  4. 4Movement 42:32Apple Music ↗
  5. 5Movement 54:25Apple Music ↗
  6. 6Movement 68:51Apple Music ↗
  7. 7Movement 79:29Apple Music ↗
  8. 8Movement 87:23Apple Music ↗
  9. 9Movement 92:30Apple Music ↗

30-second previews via Apple Music. Listen to the whole album on Apple Music ↗

Categories: Albums and songs