Saso are a music duo formed in Dublin, Ireland in 2000 by Jim Lawler (composer / multi instrumentalist) and Grammy Award Winner Ben Rawlins (producer / recording engineer) who share a unique artistic relationship as a writer and producer partnership.
They have just released their 8th studio album ‘Invisible World’ on all digital platforms. It marks a new chapter where the synthesizer sound of the last album has been replaced with the more organic, acoustic sound of brass and woodwind instruments, felt piano and classical guitar.
The inspiration for ‘Invisible World’ comes from a sense of nostalgia and romanticism of a bygone era – a kind of arcadian tranquility. The music acts as a sanctuary from urban life, turning to the organic pulse of nature as an antidote. The compositions were informed by the palette of instruments and resulted in a change of colour to create quiet pastoral scenes and fragile instrumentals.
All of Saso’s previous work has seamlessly coalesced into one sound on this album.
A collective of orchestral musicians were invited to play the arrangements live and to add colour and warmth.
“Something happens in a room when there are musicians playing live. The music comes together in the air.” (Ben)
“I arranged the tracks around feel and instinct. The sound world of clarinets and horns was new and allowed me to experiment with no restrictions on how songs should be structured. The performance aspect of just playing live was really important” (Jim)
The result is a meditative work, which is quiet and pastoral at times and unfolds gently over 14 tracks. The aim is to draw the listener in, to immerse in a warm and harmonious sound world – for silences and anchoring in the imagery of landscapes and nature.
Special mention to James Smith for playing guitar on ‘Murmur’, ‘Hills’ and ‘Solstice’ and for helping to workshop early ideas. Francesco Turrisi for co-composing and playing una corda piano on ‘A Path Will Rise’.
