I don't remember how exactly I discovered Nils Frahm, what lead me to his music. But as all things great, it just happened when it happened, and there's no going back.
I often have a reoccurring dream. I am alone in the room, left to my own thoughts, free to do anything I want. Anything in the world. I sit at the open piano, looking down at its keys and at my inert hands. Then I start playing. The sound is deep, unlike anything I've heard before, it fills the room, it's almost tangible. I have never thought I could play like this. And in my dream, as I play, I can't believe how beautiful the music is. I wake up, with the deepest yearning to be able to play this music again, but in real life, even though I do play the piano, I can't make this music appear.
Nils can.
"Said and Done" is 9 minutes 39 seconds long. In that short span there is a story few can tell so vividly.
The first minute is just one note, pounding again and again. The aftermath of all the harsh words said, a relationship shattered, an argument which one regrets, something that can't be unsaid and undone, something irrevocable.
The second minute rolls in. The single note gets surrounded with a melody of memories, the mourning and the questioning, and the poignant happiness of the prior hour or perhaps prior days, when everything was different, when everything still was.
On the 3rd minute there's a thought... Is there a chance? The mind throws a hopeful"what if", a chance to rewind, to go back, to say "yes" instead of "no", maybe offer a downpour of explanations, anything to make everything intact again. It is frantic and filled to the brim with the fluttering anxious hope, the sort that makes you run after the departing train or bus, to stumble up the stairs, run across the street hoping to reach, to bring back.
On the 6th minute a deeper realisation is dawning. There's no way to bring anything back. The chattering of the mind, still clinging and hoping, is in the background now, and the forefront is filled with the strange feeling of relief of letting go.
On the 7th minute the music is like watching a rushing stream, with sunshine reflected in it, the stream is carrying away all the feverish excitement, and false hopes, and anger.
The last minute ponders upon what's said and done, with the quiet dignity and acceptance.
With more albums to come, with more concerts to perform, with so much talent to offer, Nils Frahm is truly one of those rare blessed people. He makes such music without which life would be a mistake.
Nils playing a concert in Vancouver on November 8, 2014
