Thou Art the King of Glory

Subtlety is an open form of expression; it creates space for the soul to fill. It echoes off the walls of deep wells confronting the attentive with the certainty of things hidden, of paths treading beyond the fog.

Quiet words refresh the senses with attunement to the simplified, bare minimum of sound, stripped of all accessories dulling the senses. Loud, fast, sharp, obvious; nobody could not hear, so no one really has to listen.

Music artists who, in my opinion, are masters of the art of subtlety are those like Ben Howard, Josè Gonzales, Nick Mulvey, and others like Charlie Cunningham and Blancho White. Ben is a British folk & indie artist who specializes in the mix of electric and acoustic to elongate and unearth emotion and memory. Josè, a Swedish Argentine folk artist, dwells within the tones of his own vocals and blends the mastery that is his acoustic guitar skills with the simplistic patterns of his voice to craft dimensional rhythm at the level of a whisper. Nick is another British artist who brings the steady pace of his guitar and variety of sounds to progress toward rich pattern and climax.

These artists understand the need to attune, to construct thoroughly as well as leave a margin of simplicity and “emptiness” for the soul to draw into and fill with their own longing and emotional influence. Subtlety does not have to signal a dull musical experience but, contrarily, dictates an expectation of participation and proactivity in the music, sinking into the marrow of the expression in all its nuance and crafted silence.

Notice it next time.