Listening to Piano Circle Songs, it’s hard to imagine that Francesco Tristano used to produce beats for electronic music. Describing his latest project, however, the Luxembourger explains why his music has taken such a dramatically different turn: “…I had children. They made me explore a gentler phase of what I could do at the piano, in terms of writing.” The result of Tristano’s new soft-focus is this album, which features Canadian pianist and songwriter Chilly Gonzales. The feel of the whole project is highly intimate, with the taps of the piano’s pedals and hammers heard throughout. True to its name, too, the music features a simple theme which returns in various time signatures and guises, eventually coming full circle in the most understated of endings. We hope that this collaboration is the first of many between Tristano and Gonzales. -HM

Piano Circle Songs will be performed at the Royal Festival Hall at the Southbank Centre on September 20th.