Voices 2 is an album of bright sincerity. If music is how we cope with the situation in which we have found ourselves, then Richter has provided us with an incredible means to cope with a difficult period that we all are in. Voices 2 offers solace to the isolated and the world-weary and gives hope for the future. This also includes the initial Voices record of which Voices 2 is a natural evolution. It is evident that Richter has shown his soul in creating this record. As a result, the compositions, with their gentle and immersive nature, are a welcome respite from the noise and turbulences that have marked this period of so much political, social, and health uncertainty and unrest.
The album as a whole feels innately optimistic, even when the melodic choices feel nostalgic and decidedly melancholic. The opening composition "Psychogeography" has serene energy which perfectly encapsulates the atmosphere that unfolds across the rest of the album as it gently pushes towards more pensive and reflective states. On Voices 2, ambient and classical sounds collide throughout the record, evoking the feeling of drifting into a serene hideaway. The tinkling, lulling piano and lush, soothing strings feel so grounding and centring and so wholly peaceful. The music has an organic quality, often developing from a string theme. Unlike Voices, where the compositions featured readings of excerpts from the Declaration by various speakers in their native languages and the music quietly but strongly bolstered the sentiments and messages behind the texts, this time the music offers more reflective and introspective themes than before from Richter.
Most of the album was recorded during the same sessions that produced Voices, with additional sessions during lockdown when Richter recorded some of the solo piano parts at Abbey Road studios. Following up on his deeply resonating album Voices (Decca, 2020) which found its inspiration in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and centred on the messages it sent in these problematic, dark political times, composer Max Richter comes up with a follow-up entitled Voices 2, and the results are mesmerizing.
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