Fiona Rutherford - Sleep Sound

Music, as well as being pleasant to listen to, can be used as a way to express ideas and images that the artist has on the world. Many tell these kinds of stories just as words, but musicians of course like to use music to spark emotion and thought.

Fiona herself says that this album, Sleep Sound has a theme that is split into three stages. The first being how people ’take their hopes and worries to sleep with them’, then how there are different stages to being asleep, and finally how odd and realistic dreams can feel.

When you listen to the album, you can certainly get a strong feeling of this idea and all of the tracks flow nicely into each other, much in the same way when you sleep you slowly flow into the different stages, rather than simply end one kind and jump into another. Pin pointing which track is the ’swap’ into the next theme is difficult, and that’s probably intentional.

The mix of instruments on the album, from the piano and harp to the violin family are all perfect instruments to project these concepts, especially during tracks like The Decision and Peace and Worry where the instruments swap and change to create mystical and magical sounding effects.

The music remains calm and soothing even when swapping through the themes. It is of course difficult to make a harp not sound soothing, but Fiona Rutherford and all of the guest musicians must be complimented on the skill and control they have over these instruments and how they do unlock the exact emotions inside the listener that they intend.

One particular track, The Nightmare, has a vocal introduction which is just plain chilling, before jumping into a beautiful musical element. It shows great thought to have put a piece that is both beautiful and haunting together and make it fit so well as a whole.

This is a beautiful album full to bursting point with talent and beauty, a great accomplishment by Fiona.