Eirenic Life

Former Adam & The Ants drummer/producer Chris Merrick Hughes strips everything away to focus on the intimacy of a solo piano in this collection. Miniature in scale doesn’t mean miniature in emotion, and these often-gentle meditations exercise a haunting power, occasionally disturbing the surface with something darker. Rhythm is close to Merrick’s heart—and emerges here in a restrained minimalist language—but he has a fine melodic gift too, whether extended over 13 minutes in “Prelude / NSV” or compressed into the 47 seconds of “Exmoor Pony Gavotte.”