Max Richter - Infra

As soon as everybody watched ‘Inception’, Hans Zimmer’s accompanying soundtrack - so perfectly shaped for the visuals that met it halfway - was hailed as a triumph by many who hadn’t even considered championing an instrumental, ambient collection of melodies before. And yet in amongst the many normal albums released over the year, there was a “soundtrack”, if you will, that seemed to pass everybody by.

Composer Max Richter initially constructed the pieces of ‘infra’ and ‘journey’ with the intention of applying the material to a ballet, based on T.S Eliot’s ‘The Waste Land’. Like the modernist poem, its ideas are grand, with poignant, striking melodies emphasising the drama Richter composes.

‘Infra’ could fit nicely into a film’s closing scene where a Grandfather sees out his last hour in the company of loved one; it could even accompany the aftermath of a bloody, barbaric battle. Its versatility also allows it to out-muscle other soundtracks by working as an album. You can either associate these pieces with visceral images in your head or simply bask in every, familiar chime of the piano. Regardless of your intuition and how you see fit to fall in love with this album, it’s extremely difficult to avoid doing so. [JM]

Stream parts of the record on Soundcloud
Or Listen to the whole thing on Spotify