PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Released on 4th May on the Noisy Records label, the story of ‘Starless Starlight’ is that of a short melody composed by David Cross and Robert Fripp that emerged as one of the key themes of the King Crimson song ‘Starless’, from the 1974 album ‘Red’.
The tune resurfaced in two improvisations performed and recorded by Fripp at Blueberry Hill, St Louis in 2006. These recordings and the theme itself were than transformed by David Cross into the album ‘Starless Starlight’.
Robert Fripp’s approach to the guitar and soundscaping is both human and symphonic and is complemented by the range and uniquely warm sound of Cross’s electric violin. Improvisation remains central to Cross’s toolkit, with loops and samples of Fripp’s guitar providing a sense of metre – occasionally rhythmic but mostly cascading through the tracks like waves on the shore.
Cross’s technique of ‘back composing’ from recorded improvisations enables a hybrid music with the best features of the ephemeral and the permanent. David Cross describes this process, “It’s a kind of time travel, listening backwards to where the music came from and exploring forwards to find out where it might lead.”
The final stage was achieved when producer Tony Lowe brought an important third ear to the process, working with Cross to shape and focus the music into a coherent album.
David Cross talking about ‘Starless Starlight’ (3 min 28 sec), plus the album, music, creativity, King Crimson and harmonicas (22 min 59 sec):
