By Charlie WatkinsÂ
2025 was the year of Sophie Agnel. Whilst recovering from a brain tumour –
which also meant starting again with the piano – Agnel managed to release
two first-class solo albums (SONG (Relative Pitch) and Learning (OTORUKO))
as well as a brilliant duo with John Butcher (Rare (Les Disques
VICTO)), all three of which featured on the Free Jazz Collective’s choices
for their
albums of 2025
. Just five days after Learning was released in early October, she
put out this recording with drummer Mark Sanders: ANTLIA. If I’d heard it
sooner, this album would certainly have made it into my top 10.
Antlia is the name of a small and relatively modern constellation that
represents an air pump (Antlia is the Greek word for ‘pump’). Its three
visible stars are a yellow dwarf, a yellow-white dwarf, and an orange dwarf
named Macondo, which are used as the track titles. The choice of a modern
constellation for the album title made me consider the act of ‘establishing’
a constellation: by coordinating disparate objects in space, it could be
seen as a symbol for what occurs in the act of improvisation. Similarly, the
symbol of the air pump, chosen by the French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de
Lacaille to represent the Enlightenment, might indicate a parallel between
invention and improvisation, such that what is inanimate is brought to life.
I can’t help but wonder whether this dark, mysterious music calls into
question the rationalism of the Enlightenment in favour of a more ‘magical’
way of thinking (and so perhaps it is also worth noting that ‘Macondo’ is
the name of the mythical town in Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez’s magical realist
novel One Hundred Years of Solitude).
The album is brilliantly self-assured; at no point is there any sense of
timidity or hesitation. This is particularly impressive considering how the
music is constantly in motion, never quite settling in one place. But whilst
the music is shifting, there is no denying its cohesion as a whole,
characterised both by fragility (which makes the cover image of a dandelion
a fitting choice) and a sense of the enigmatic. There are points when Agnel
hints towards something more forceful, only for Sanders to refuse her
invitation and keep the improvisation in a liminal space (such as towards
the end of track three, ‘Orange’). At other times their twisting and turning
creates moments of resistance that nonetheless feel completely intuitive
(especially on the first track, ‘Antlia’). This dynamic of invitation and
refusal generates a momentum not characterised by forward movement as such,
but something more like sideways movement – always seeking new directions
rather than simply ploughing onwards. It’s immensely satisfying to listen to
this interaction take place.
Agnel and Sanders are perfectly matched, particularly because of Agnel’s
percussive approach to the piano, bringing all the kinds of sounds you would
expect from somebody so influenced by Cage’s prepared piano music. But
they’re not afraid to let the silence speak either: at the start of
‘Yellow’, the sounds are suspended in empty space, bell-like in quality. At
other points, such as on ‘Yellow-White’, there is a hint of something more
metred and continuous. Fittingly, these improvisations all seem to be about
letting things happen ‘in space’, drawing them out of the ‘cosmic hum’ of
the universe. Throughout the album, the connection between Agnel and Sanders
is unbreakable, and this only enhances the feeling that they are
establishing their own musical constellation.
It is clear throughout that Agnel and Sanders are kindred musical spirits,
and what they create together is the best kind of improvised music:
creative, confident and immensely compelling. I have been playing this album
for weeks now, and continue to be intrigued by what Agnel and Sanders offer
here. I hope we hear much more of this duo in the near future.
ANTLIA is available from Shrike Records on their Bandcamp page: