Bristol Progressive-Jazz collective Al Swainger’s Pointless Beauty return with the new album ‘Hearts Full Of Grace’, a striking collection of tracks demonstrating the band’s unique blend of Jazz, Electronica, Prog and Chillout. Having already gained support from the likes of Clout, Backseat Mafia, Jazz Views and Jazz FM the collective are riding high into the release of the new album.
The album sees Al Swainger’s Pointless Beauty build the kind of multifaceted, forward-thinking Jazz soundscape that the band has become renowned for. Airy synths, bright keys, dappled guitar lines, and infectiously catchy brass all dance over backbones tight bass and drums creating an invigorating, musically intense experience across 10 stunning tracks. Full of virtuoso performances from the whole band, the album is a vibrant representation of their potential as performers and AL Swainger’s unique songwriting.
An album which revolved around themes of mental health, especially isolation, many of the tracks are inspired by Al Swainger’s personal experiences, as he explains:
“My experience of being creative is that it’s inherently lonely but punctuated by moments of joyous communion. There’s always the feeling that no one else sees the world the way that you do. There’s also the need to try and communicate your own perspective to the world and an enormous amount of rejection that comes with trying to find your tribe to share with along the way. It’s easy to become obsessive and react to the highs and lows with quite extreme emotion.
I’ve felt like an outsider my whole life so it’s not surprising I’ve written an album about isolation and the effects that can have. It’s a broad sweep acknowledging a full range of emotions as there’s so much more than just being happy or sad. Music offers a form of therapy for me and my intent is for it to provide space for emotional reflection in others too. Music is at it’s most powerful when it helps us express our true feelings, however dark and complex, rather than telling us what to feel.”
No stranger to performing at venues including Ronnie Scotts and the Royal Festival Hall, Al Swainger has had a hugely successful career playing and recording with a whole host of jazz nobility including Peter King, Jim Mullen and Alan Barnes as well as performing at national and international jazz festivals such as Love Supreme, London Jazz Festival and Krakow Jazz Festival. Having won fifth place in the British Jazz Awards three times, Al has fully established himself as a top level Jazz musician. Now focusing on his Pointless Beauty project, ‘Hearts Full of Grace’ represents the 5th studio release for the collective and once again shines a light on a hugely creative composer and a group of highly skilled musicians.
