"Candles Burn" as Jason Blake Taps Cellist Raphael Weinroth-Browne for Mesmerizing New Instrumental EP (Early Stream)
If you're not familiar with what a Warr guitar is, it's basically the answer to the hypothetical question "what if we made the guitar harder to play?," alongside similar instruments like the Chapman stick. Chicago local Jason Blake (also a member of Aziola Cry) is one of the instrument's most advanced practitioners [read his artist-vs-artist with Keven Berk here], and he's put it through its paces in his massive solo body of work. His newest offering is the upcoming Candles Burn EP, out this Friday, which features Raphael Weinroth-Browne (of Musk Ox, and a live Leprous member) on cello. Purely comprised of these two instruments, Candles Burn offers an isolated look at two instruments rarely heard together and applied toward an unusual mixture of progressive rock-oriented instrumental music and classical chamber music. We're streaming the EP here in full ahead of its release, so take a listen now.
...
...
There's a lot to dig into musically, with each of the three songs on Candles Burn navigating vastly different paths, but the commonality is how the two instruments resonate with each other. Weinroth-Browne's playing acts as a rich, textured voice that weaves in and out of Blake's combined rhythm-and-melody structure, his playing cascading between low and high notes with hypnotic intricacy. If you're already familiar with Blake's catalog, this collaboration offers an intriguing twist, and if not, this is a great starting point.
Blake states:
This is a record that I have wanted to make for some time now. I liked the idea of mixing progressive rock and classical music together and found this to be the perfect opportunity. Seeing as though both Raphael and I play progressive music in bands, I thought that pairing with him could be ideal. His playing was perfect and took this music to a new level. I am very excited for people to hear this album.
...
Candles Burn releases April 5th via 7D Media.
