Lucy Railton & Kit Downes Subaerial

Subaerial is the latest and most sophisticated transmission from the long musical partnership of cellist Lucy Railton and keyboardist Kit Downes.Subaerial marks the first time that the duo have used recorded improvisations as the core material for a release.The cello and organ, beautifully recorded by Alex Bonney at Skáholt Cathedral, blend in richly striated harmonies, with phrases and cadences that stretch back centuries while sounding unerringly contemporary. The seven pieces were culled from one three-hour session with only edits breaking up bigger chunks of improvisation
The pair first crossed paths whilst studying in London and spent the following decade collaborating in various groups whilst cutting their own distinct paths. By the time they rendezvoused in Iceland in the fall of 2017 to create Subaerial, Railton had moved to Berlin, where her embrace of electronics was leading her in new directions, exploring microtonality, psychoacoustics, and synthesis, an evolution captured on shape-shifting albums released by experimental imprints like Editions Mego, PAN,and Takuroku. Her debut solo album Paradise 94 released on Modern Love features Downes on organ. Around the same time, Downes had been signed to ECM and was directing much of his focus on the organ—his original instrument—on the two recordings he's made for the imprint, including the 2019 album Dreamlife of Debris, which features the cellist.