Since releasing her first album, FM Biography, Johanna Borchert has impressed not only jazz and pop magazines but also the broader musical community. German public radio station BR5 declared the record a "masterpiece of quiet tones," and the Süddeutsche Zeitung heard "a new cosmos of sound full of harmoniously balanced contrasts." Many journalists drew comparisons to Laurie Anderson, Joni Mitchell, Tori Amos, Björk, and the late work of Kate Bush. Now, the multi-award-winning song poet, singer, and pianist is making an impressive comeback. Borchert's powerful new album, Amniotic, positions itself between genres with a detailed creative will and manifests Borchert's profile as a self-confident artistic personality. At the center of the songs and improvisations are her refined playing on the grand piano, rooted in jazz and classical music, and her variable, charismatic voice. Her spectrum ranges from rhythmic whispering lyrics, in "Amniotic Nectar," to promisingly dark passages and rad...

Since releasing her first album, FM Biography, Johanna Borchert has impressed not only jazz and pop magazines but also the broader musical community. German public radio station BR5 declared the record a "masterpiece of quiet tones," and the Süddeutsche Zeitung heard "a new cosmos of sound full of harmoniously balanced contrasts." Many journalists drew comparisons to Laurie Anderson, Joni Mitchell, Tori Amos, Björk, and the late work of Kate Bush. Now, the multi-award-winning song poet, singer, and pianist is making an impressive comeback. Borchert's powerful new album, Amniotic, positions itself between genres with a detailed creative will and manifests Borchert's profile as a self-confident artistic personality. At the center of the songs and improvisations are her refined playing on the grand piano, rooted in jazz and classical music, and her variable, charismatic voice. Her spectrum ranges from rhythmic whispering lyrics, in "Amniotic Nectar," to promisingly dark passages and radiant registers. Amniotic presents intense songs and atmospheric improvisations that revolve around the development of life before, during, and immediately after birth. Contemplative to fast tempos, as well as sparingly subtle or large-scale arrangements, convey predominantly pensive moods. In more epic songs, such as "The Mirror" and "Faster Than Light," Borchert confidently creates wide dramatic arcs. Prepare yourself for abstract sounds and rhythmic phrasing at the grand piano, Steinway D, when Bochert takes the audiences into her multi-layered intensity.

Photo: Doville Sermokas...

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