.S.Blumm and Nils Frahm release their fifth joint album with Handling – and make it clear that something entirely new is being created here. And no one would want to argue with them. But first, let’s acknowledge what’s familiar: there are three pieces, featuring piano, glockenspiel, guitar and other instruments. All arranged over a yawning silence that’s more than just ambience – it’s a compositional element demanding attention.
In the middle of the first track, all components align to become hauntingly beautiful – and beautifully haunting. Recorded at LEITER Studio in Berlin’s Funkhaus, F.S.Blumm and Frahm once again navigate quieter sonic terrain. Handling never overwhelms, yet never fades into the background either. It’s drawn in the finest of strokes – forty minutes of subtle, deliberate musical lines sketched by two exceptional musicians.
So what’s new? It’s the sound in its entirety – the architecture hidden within the record. Everything sounds vast and unfathomable. Those who let themselves sink into this album will be richly rewarded – with something new, something distinct. And something profoundly beautiful.
