(((O))) : Melanie Radford – For the Sake of Stillness

The lines have been blurred everywhere in music, so why not in what goes by the name of field recordings? What once was solely the concept of actually going outside and recording sounds you hear and then (but not necessarily) combining them with music itself, has become something a bit different.

These days it includes recording on tour, in hotel rooms, Airbnbs, and small studios, often across multiple countries. It could be because of the spur-of-the-moment, when a song idea pops up, or getting a certain feeling from the location you find yourself in. Or, it could be all of those.

It seems that singer songwriter (another term that is gathering new meanings along the way) Melanie Radford had all of those things in mind when she decided to record her latest album For the Sake of Stillness while she was touring U.S., Brazil, and Europe, as she doesn’t really fit that strict singer-songwriter definition with her music falling in the realms of dream pop, vocal (and non vocal) ambient, slowcore, with just touches of minimalist folk.

Basically, you could call it all mood music, and with it, the whole thing always relies on whether it resonates with the listeners, and to do so, it has to ride on very sensitive lines that connect the artist’s mood with that of her/his audience.

By choosing to go with the broader concept of recording ‘outside,i,.e., a regular, fully-equipped studio, Radford was able to hit on the sweet mood music spot that many other artists quite often miss.