Lluch is the abbreviated stage name of Jose María Lluch, a musician from San Sebastian who is now releasing his debut album after around a decade or so of private home recording between 2015-2024. This 11 track collection is befitting of its origins, a selection of quietly performed compositions that combine field recordings, the occasional murmured vocal and mostly acoustic elements in somnambulant ways, miniature dispatches from hushed environs. La Proyección (trans: The Projection) actually bears a strong resemblance to another recent collection of home recordings - Halkyn’s self-titled retrospective on Concentric Circles. There’s that same feeling of intimacy and seclusion, the sense that these communiques were perhaps not really intended for the world beyond its creator’s own and we, the listener, are merely an intrusion. As we well know from others who write in similar ways (from Halkyn to Crescent to Virginia Astley), it generates a very specific experience that puts you right there in the room with the artist, the kind that demands active listening - the irony being that the quieter you play, the more you force yourself to be heard…. The charms here are subtle, any flourishes highly nuanced, a kind of musique naturale if you like, greatly sincere and even a touch earnest, but nothing less than utterly authentic.
FFO: Halkyn, Crescent, Empress, Wilson Tanner
