Mark Barrott’s new album Everything Changes, Nothing Ends was composed in the immediate aftermath of the tragic passing of his wife, Sara. The first track to be written was Pandora, and I was wondering if its title refers to the opening of a box of powerful and intense emotions.

The piece began as a solitary electronic arpeggio but as it took shape became an ambitious composition for orchestra and choir. The parts recorded in Berlin, with assistance from some of Sara’s musical friends. On stolen weekends. Sessions kept off the books. The players donating their time uncredited. Soaring on stirring strings and bold brass fanfares, the operatic chants, like Carl Orf’s Carmina Burana meets Sault’s Air, are used rhythmically. The song leading the way for the rest of the LP, which is similarly epic in scale. Butterfly In A Jar, Parts I through to IV, builds from keys, gentle percussion and Miles / Sketches Of Spain blue horn to a full syncopated jazz workout. Flute fluttering, the song’s swing calling back to standouts such as Icarus from Mark’s score for the documentary, Johatsu. January 25th finds the album peaking. Woodwinds countering timpani and chorale explosions. Celebrating a life, and reaching for transcendence.

Past this point the record, which has flown fiercely in the face of crippling grief and brandished a two-fingered-salute to introspection, hits quiet. Following all the preceding crescendos, Mono No Aware is an incredibly moving mix of muted minor chord drones. Summoning a sad Arvo Part-esque stillness. Mark’s piano plots a path in the dark on the comparatively stark It’s Just Like Falling Asleep, setting the scene for weeping cello and violin solos. The closing, The Light Is Still There is a moment of deep contemplation. A soul-searching shimmer of long sustained notes, overlapping, intertwining and synergising in fragile but fascinating frequency fluctuations. The aural equivalent of watching a candle flame flicker. To be honest, it’s impossible to listen to these last 3 pieces objectively, and not be affected by their heartbreaking backstory.

Mark Barrott’s Everything Changes Nothing Ends can be ordered directly from Anjunadeep and Bandcamp.