A Closer Listen
Today is midwinter, equally balanced between autumn and spring. Winter Moonlight is a perfect accompaniment to cold, crisp winter nights under a full moon with a cover of newly-fallen snow. On this release, Evgeny Grinko circles all the way back to his 2011 EP Winter Sunshine. A lot has changed since then, including Grinko’s move to Istanbul and Berlin after his arrest in Russia for protesting the invasion of Ukraine. It’s fair to say that Russia has lost one of its national treasures. The expatriate existence can be heartbreaking, but Grinko doesn’t show it here; he still believes in beauty, and perhaps connects the snow and moon of his new locations to his childhood in Zukhovsky. Poignantly, some of the compositions even date back to his prior existence.
The album also comes with a few fun stories. “Zapad Slunce” is one of the first compositions the artist ever wrote, a time of innocence and exploration. The first notes of “Melting” are taken from an old scrap of paper he found in a 1934 accordion purchased at a flea market in Istanbul. As one listens, one thinks of notes, composers, generations gone; was this once a popular song, or did a composer jot the notes down, hoping one day to be published? This erasure and rediscovery is all the more relevant in the current climate. The video for “Murmuration” was filmed in Istanbul’s Basilica Cistern, which dates back to the 6th century emperor Justinian. History, geography and emotion intersect in these recordings, and the moon watches over them all.
More than anything, the album exudes a deep sense of peace. The strings of the gentle opener, “Glare of Us,” ride atop Grinko’s ivories, a serenade laid over a love song. In “Melting,” the tempo speeds and slows, like gusts of flurries or the hilltop wind that the performers encountered while shooting the video. Moods intertwine, but there’s enough playfulness (“Mr. Squirrel”) to balance the melancholy (“Agatha’s Letter”). In the late swirls of strings, one can imagine Mr. Squirrel dashing around, trying to hide the nuts before the snow begins to fall.
Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of Winter Moonlight is that it transcends its circumstances. No matter what is happening below, the moon is still beautiful, a reassurance in the winter sky, a metaphor and a friend. Grinko may have changed locations, but he still has the soul of a poet. (Richard Allen)
Mon Feb 03 00:01:10 GMT 2025