Particularly dry and dusty summers require particular kinds of music. In high temperatures spaciousness is needed, and the kinds of unknowable complexity that emerge from minimal instrumentation and improvisatory processes. This release from drummer and percussionist Gerry Hemingway and pianist Izumi Kimura offers a necessary coolness and subtlety.

If this were film music, the opening chords of the opening track, “Waterspear,” could be read as ominous. But it isn’t, and they are not, and once the drums join the piano, the music is placed in the tradition of free jazz, a genre considered uncomfortable for listeners who seek straightforward interpretation or obvious symbolism. This release further aligns itself with jazz traditions through its “reconsideration of…Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground” and in the conclusion to the (very minimal) sleeve notes, which dedicates the recording to “all of those who are suffering unbearable oppression while seeking peace.” As the recordings progress, other elements emerge, closer to the soundworld of free improvisation, though the layering of instruments implies a studio production rather than purely improvised work.

The second track, “Third Story” is slow, with a recurring soft, bass motif on a tuned drum underpinning the piano, Then three short studies: drum-dominated “Corners” the briefest on the album at just over a minute; “Dock Driftings,” in which piano and marimba converse in free-rhythm melodies; and “Starbrook,” which introduces the vibraphone in clusters of metallic resonance.

A new atmosphere sweeps in with “Entrainments I”—busyness, humour, a pulse, the instruments entangled into one sound, then drops for the seventh track, “Stillness” with bowed cymbal, low piano, slow and low tones from which harmonics emerge. In “Perimeter” the piano and marimba phrases tumble playfully over one another, then, towards the end, becoming increasingly rapid, and the energy builds further in “Entrainments II” with a discernible beat at times. This paves the ground for the Blind Willie Johnson informed “This Waiting Place”, the only sung track on the album, with piano, harmonica leaning unashamedly into blues: music of the oppressed, and of oppressive heat.

“This night casts a shadow on the window of my soul” sings Hemingway, and “we are millions of things”. The restraint of this production allows the listener to connect with song, and human voice, as an instrument that can be used sparsely and with care. His voice is sometimes percussive, Kimura’s chords steady. The rest of the album could be read as a framing for this track, and the inclusion of the lyrics inside the sleeve appears to invite this interpretation, though this approach risks prioritising vocal music over instrumental, words over sounds, and meaning over abstraction.

The song gives way to “Chimneys” a minimal piece with ambiguous sounds. Though the sleeve notes list piano, drums, marimba, vibraphone, harmonica and voice as the instrumentation, it is not easy to discern who and what is sounded here, though a muffled resonance of vibraphone emerges, and some interesting, boomy tones, all the more effective for being used this sparsely. “Chimneys” suggests resonant spaces, and perhaps this track was recorded in a different space. Another acoustic is implied by the final track, “Wishing Well”: there is a sense that the Hemingway and Kimura had fun with their titles. “Shadowshift” which follows “Chimneys” is muted and abstract, exploring the piano’s higher register, underpinned by a soft drone. The title of track 13, “Arrivals” could suggest migration, in their experiences as Japanese and American musicians working in Ireland and Switzerland, or their compassion for migrants in elsewhere.

The sleeve design—a dust sheet pinned across a window; flaking paint; a lock on an open door—implies a house long since abandoned by people and occupied by dust. Dust may fall evenly, but it always to a free rhythm. When illuminated in a beam of light, dust sparkles, enchanting. Dust, as funeral services remind us, is what we all become. After times of upheaval, we wait for the dust to settle, to find who we are again. This aptly named release is delicate, but not easy. In a year when “unbearable oppression” appears to be normalised and celebrated in some circles, there is a need for music that makes space for complexity, intuition and unknowing. This is suitably elegant and restless music for 2025, the hottest year on record.