Blanca Altable: “Las Formas Del Agua” (2023) CD Review

Blanca Altable is a violinist known for her work in B&C Quartet, which she began with Chuchi Alcuadrado, a guitarist she’s been playing with for fifteen years. In 2021, Blanca Altable released her first solo album, Somos Polvo, and has now followed that with Las Formas Del Agua. This new album features all original material, written and arranged by Blanca Altable, who plays violin and keyboards on these tracks, as well as provides the vocals. It is largely a solo album, though she is joined by some musicians on a few tracks. The music here has a theme, that being water in its various shapes and forms and meanings. Perhaps it’s because I’m a Pisces, but I’ve always been drawn to bodies of water, and likewise find myself drawn to this music, to its beauty and motion.

I was captivated from the opening of the album’s first track, “My Lion, Mamma Lion.” It begins with some percussive sounds, like drops of water into a pool, immediately establishing the theme alluded to in the album’s title. Soon the vocals come in, and then the drums. Diana Samprón is on percussion on this track. This piece is wonderful and mesmerizing. I’d say the music transports me, but it feels more like it is transforming the world around me, and doing so naturally, tapping into something that is at the core of life. That is followed by “Drops.” Alex Hache co-wrote this one, and provides the vocals. His approach is like that of a poet telling us a story, presenting it as facts, and his vocals are supported by some gorgeous work on strings. It’s an intriguing track. “Agujas clavan nieve/Deshaciendo el tiempo/Relojes mecidos/Por segundos, viento/Un hombre en la escena del Octavo Centenario/Contemplando la existencia.”

Blanca Altable then takes us into a different and vibrant world with “Under The Sea.” Listening to the music, you can see the many fish moving, swaying in time with the movement of the water, their movements seemingly choreographed by the ocean itself, by the water. And if we let the music take us, we join that school of fish, and perhaps we are guided by the voices that the fish ignore, those of mermaids who lead us to a beautiful place rather than taking us to our destruction. First one, then many, and we are among them, and we no longer care if we ever emerge from the water. Samuel Peñas plays bass on this track. Samuel Peñas also mixed and mastered the album, and is one of its producers. That’s followed by “Inbocacción,” which was produced by Iván Cebrián, who also plays keyboards on this one. I love the way this track builds, even before the vocals come in, but it is the vocal work that becomes the heart and soul of the piece. Coco Moya joins Blanca Altable on vocals on this one. By the way, Coco Moya and Iván Cebrián are known collectively as Menhir, a duo based in Madrid. This track also contains some strong and beautiful work on violin.

There is something light and whimsical about the feel of “Nubola,” yet something eternal, like the ancient ones are playing in the sky and of course are in no hurry to conclude the game. There is a great beauty to the track. Diana Samprón is on percussion. That is followed by “Dew,” which has an intimate sound as it begins. Everything is close now, with details we can see clearly. After a while, this track begins to feel like a dance, one of light and drops of water and whatever magical creatures are able to exist within both. Human voices join them toward the end, and it feels like a natural celebration. Then as “Floating” opens, it feels like a bright dawn over a glorious ocean or tundra, the light hitting the ground, everything coming alive, and we are in awe of the magnitude of it all, the immensity of life. Somehow this music captures that, expresses it, shows it through sound. It’s fantastic and over all too soon.

There is a sense of some urgency as “Niño Del Invierno” begins, with that repeated part on strings. And while the piece’s title mentions winter, and we can sense the fallen snow all around us, there is the sense of spring just around the corner. There is certainly life to this track, even if we can feel the cold air on our skin as we listen. Sticking with winter, the album then concludes with “Ice In My Mouth.” This one has quite a different sound as it begins, a sort of alien world opening before us. Beings like giant shards of ice slip past, disappearing for moments in light, curious but not invasive. If we meditate in this land, will we be left frozen? For there is something strangely and unexpectedly soothing about this track.

CD Track List

1. My Lion, Mamma Lion
2. Drops
3. Under The Sea
4. Inbocacción
5. Nubola
6. Dew
7. Floating
8. Niño Del Invierno
9. Ice In My Mouth

Las Formas Del Agua was released on November 16, 2023.