Neil Johnstone's debut release on Rattle, Shearwater Drift (2018, a project he made with sound engineer Steve Burridge and taonga puoro player Al Fraser), has frequently been played on radio stations in Europe and the USA, and played in its entirety on Radio New Zealand. The critical response to the album has been very enthusiastic, which, for an album that is so single-minded in its sonic-art aspirations, is no mean feat.
The fact is, it’s a very beautiful piece of work, even if it doesn’t immediately resemble ‘compositions’ in the traditional sense. The soundscapes that he, Steve, Al, and the other contributors have created are wonderfully colourful, textural, and evocative glimpses into worlds that may seem foreign at a glance, but they are remarkably, perhaps even very personally familiar up close.
