To drift, float, but never land for 2 Keyboardists

Performed by b-l duo (Bertram Wee and Lynette Yeo)

“Made a promise to the child who understands, what it’s like to drift, float, but never land.”

* * *

Where I’m from, people are always moving. It’s a fast-paced society; there’s a constant need to have a goal and be headed in that direction. To get somewhere, to achieve something, to be someone. Anyone. The fear of going nowhere outweighs everything, as one myopically chases for a destination to land.

This piece goes nowhere. Perhaps, it seems to go somewhere, suggested by constantly shifting sonic spaces and momentum that points towards a movement in specific directions. But it never quite settles, at least, not for long. Zooming in and out plays a significant role. A 4-note motif underpins the entire piece --- simplistic, repetitive, with a child-like curiosity. One may even think it’s obsessive. Within passages where this material is built upon in a cellular manner, there are hints of trajectories. Zooming out, however, paints a different picture. Different soundscapes emerge, textures woven with similar materials, rarely with a destination in mind.

There’s a constant return to the cellular treatment of this 4-note motif. I liken it to a safe heaven, as if it’s predictable, stable, certain. Yet, each time one returns, something changes. The material slowly loses its identity and eventually falls away.

* * *

“It’ll be okay. After all, this is my Neverland.”