Promises
A breathtaking 46-minute dialogue between a repeating seven-note synth motif, Pharoah Sanders' soulful saxophone, and the London Symphony Orchestra.
A breathtaking 46-minute dialogue between a repeating seven-note synth motif, Pharoah Sanders' soulful saxophone, and the London Symphony Orchestra.
Intergenerational masterpiece
A repeating, seven-note harpsichord motif hangs in the silence, establishing a fragile anchor before a legendary saxophone and a sweeping orchestra slowly bloom around it. This single, forty-six-minute composition marks a radical departure from the kinetic, club-focused electronic production of his earlier work, stepping instead into a quiet, sacred space of patience. By surrendering his usual dancefloor momentum to the breath of Pharoah Sanders and the swell of the London Symphony Orchestra, he crafts a profound dialogue across generations. You feel the weight of every pause here, discovering a masterclass in restraint that honors a giant’s final bow.
Soft, breathy vocalizations drift through the silence, offering a delicate, wordless intimacy that has no precedent in the artist's previous work.
The album was widely admired as a warm and incredibly cohesive dialogue that seamlessly blends electronic, jazz, and orchestral styles. While some reviewers noted a lingering uncertainty in the final movements after the saxophone fades, the overall experience was broadly embraced as deeply gratifying.
“Five years in the making, this breathtaking album transcends the genres each of its three collaborators bring to the table”Read review
“Esteemed in their own right, Floating Points and Pharoah Sanders were destined to work together”Read review
“This is a truly joyous album, and a purely pleasurable experience”Read review
“Make no mistake, the payoff that Promises promises is by no means immediate. This is music to savour with eyes closed in a dark room, headphones on and all other distractions firmly yeeted from sight”Read review
“A recording that is more of a transcending mind meld than it is a collaboration”Read review
“A highly accomplished piece of music, Pharoah Sanders and Floating Points both excel in their newfound exploratory duo with a piece of work which will go down in jazz-cross- electronic-cross-classical history”Read review
“It’s 2021’s finest collaboration, and one of the year’s best albums so far”Read review
“The all-star collaboration between a producer, a saxophonist, and a symphony is a celestial event. But it’s Pharaoh Sanders’ playing that holds it all together, a clear late-career masterpiece”Read review
“Promises sounds like a leap of creative faith, a cosmic communion that reaches across generations, genres and musical barriers to build something beautiful”Read review
“Droning organs and violins that whisk and wrench are centered in the two final movements, finishing the suite with a sense of uncertainty. The trip is well worth completing despite Sanders’ early exit”Read review
“It is a celebration of sound at its finest and most pure: from the smallest scratch to cathartic crescendos, from spiralling improv to contemplative silences. Every note, whisper, bleep, and shift is significant. It is marvellously multifaceted but never obnoxious: a refreshing, one-of-a-kind conversation between jazz, classical, and electronic”Read review
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