I’ve been looking forward to hearing Selen Gülün’s latest release, and to say I’m not disappointed would be an understatement. I had spent the day listening to John Cage after lunching with my priest, and then this record came on. The first track, Ah, Tu Dici!, blended into Cage’s Three Easy Pieces as naturally as could be, though Selen’s track is both better recorded and slightly darker, which makes it that much more favorable to my ears.
The second track, Cicli E Punti, lets saxophonist Dario Fariello and cellist Stellan Veloce run wild. I’d expect this sort of improvisation on a label like FMP, but to hear it on this release was a very pleasant surprise.
The final track, Grazie! flows freer, with more instrumentation filling the sound out a bit. The fullness gives the piece a haunting aura to the music. It’s criminal that she doesn’t get the coverage of artists on the ECM label. She’s equally deserving, as are the accompanying musicians who blend with her so seamlessly.
This album continues a trend in her music that I noticed in her previous single, Daha Yavaş, which was released in December of 2020. This, too, is worth picking up or downloading.
