Askjell serenades a young couple on his piano as they search for each other in a dark, damp void, in Part III of Sophia + Robert's bold visual album.The six part project, which began earlier this year, is shaping up to be refreshingly avant-garde and a thing of real beauty. There are shades of T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land in its autumnal mood, crumbling world and fragmented, episodic character.With a young couple acting as guides, we navigate through a shifting landscape of cliffs, pools, bedrooms, sand and shingle. Each instalment has a specific mood and visual character. Autumn, Autumn was a frenetic, anxious introduction to Askjell’s world. To Be Loved was a moment in transition. A daring static shot of the couple waiting for sunrise, clocking in at just under 4 minutes.Requiem has a distinctly somber, contemplative tone. It also also has a more simple, classical sensibility. Part of this will be the influence of Askjell. This is the Norwegian musician's first appearance in the project, and his piano is a soothing authorial voice. But this is also down to Franklin Dow’s operatic photography, which is somehow intimate and sweepingly grand all at once.
Ned Botwood - 26th June 2019