Makushin / Move into the Luminous
“The variety and depth on show here is breathtaking. Makushin have fashioned an engrossing collection of ten perfect miniatures, each of which plays out like something much longer. They are ambient epics packaged as pop songs, delicate folk latticeworks enmeshed with impassioned jazz. It’s a stunning achievement.”
“A beautiful, immersive soak in the ethereal; a meditative moonlit walk through a world of cosmic connectivity.”
Move into the Luminous is the debut album from Makushin, a group whose work explores the intersection between folk, jazz and ambient music.
Double bassist Jon Thorne, guitarist Peter Philipson and singer Nancy Elizabeth lead an inspiring collective on this richly layered and immersive collaboration. The whole album has a natural, unforced aesthetic and features some notable instrumentalists who bring saxophone, piano, drums, violin and synths to the sound palette.
“Deeply engrossing from the outset, with Elizabeth’s delicate but intoxicating tones gliding and weaving through various configurations of the wider band operation, the ten assembled compositions more than live up to the album’s chosen title.”
“A beautifully textured, atmospheric collection... Like being cosseted by the most idyllic dream; like being wrapped in the wings of an angel... This is a collection that feels very delicate, as fragile as porcelain, with each composition ethereally drifting through your senses.”
“Blackford Hill keep the quality sky-high with ‘Move into the Luminous’, the debut album from folk/jazz/fusion trio Makushin.”
The lyrical themes deal with subjects such as the illumination of the moon, the observation of nature and attempting to slow the course of time. The varied musical influences range from the early 1970s recordings of John Martyn with Danny Thompson, the ambient albums made by David Sylvian and Holger Czukay, records by Joni Mitchell, Beth Gibbons, and the musical aesthetic of ECM Records.
The first single taken from the album, More Easily, calls to mind David Crosby’s solo album If Only I Could Remember My Name, and features Andrew Wasylyk on vibraphone and David A Jaycock on electric guitar.
The band name refers to Mount Makushin, an active volcano in Alaska, and this was inspired by the book The Cruise of the Corwin, written by Scottish-born American naturalist John Muir, where he vividly described Makushin as the “most noble volcano” he saw on an Alaskan expedition in 1881.
“Really beautiful, healing sounds.”
“Dreamy, hazy, divine, yes please.”
“This spacious folk/jazz/ambient record is really quite something... Be sure to give this special album a listen and the hugely dynamic Vinyl Factory pressing is the ideal way to do it.”
“One of my albums of the year. As if the Cocteau Twins had been invited to guest on John Martyn’s ‘One World’.”
About Makushin
Nancy Elizabeth is a singer and multi-instrumentalist who has released three chamber folk albums under her own name on the Leaf Label. She has also previously played with James Yorkston and recorded with the late ambient composer Susumu Yokota.
Jon Thorne is a double bassist best known as a member of the pioneering electronic band Lamb and, more recently, Yorkston Thorne Khan. He has worked with many other musicians, including Jon Hopkins, Robert Fripp and his mentor Danny Thompson, as well as releasing his own music.
Peter Philipson is a guitarist who has previously performed with Jane Weaver for a decade and has collaborated with her and Raz Ullah on two ambient albums under the artist name of Fenella. He has also released a number of solo instrumental guitar albums.
Photography by Brian Roberts