Leo Abrahams

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Leo Abrahams
English folk
  • Electronica
    • Occupation(s)
    • Composer
    • musician
    • songwriter
    • producer
    • arranger
    Instrument(s)
    Years active2000–present
    Labels
    • Just Music
    • Bip-Hop
    Websitewww.LeoAbrahams.com

    Leo Matthew Abrahams (born 28 November 1977 in Camden, London) is an English musician, composer and producer. He has collaborated with Brian Eno,[1][2] Katie Melua, Imogen Heap, Jarvis Cocker, Carl Barât, Regina Spektor, Jon Hopkins and Paul Simon.[3] After attending the Royal Academy of Music in England, he started his musical career by touring as lead guitarist with Imogen Heap.[4]

    Since 2005, he has released five solo albums, largely in an ambient style involving complex arrangements and a use of guitar-generated textures.[5] He has also co-written or arranged a variety of film soundtracks, including Peter Jackson's 2009 release The Lovely Bones and Steve McQueen's Hunger.[6] Abrahams has produced Regina Spektor's album Remember Us to Life. Hayden Thorpe's Diviner, Editors' Violence and Ghostpoet's Dark Days + Canapés.

    Career

    Early years

    Abrahams attended the Royal Academy of Music.[7] He studied under Steve Martland and Nick Ingman.[8] During his studies, Abrahams was invited to join Imogen Heap's touring band.[7] He left the Royal Academy of Music[4] to tour England for several months.[7]

    Collaborative work

    Through Heap, Abrahams was introduced to alternative folk artist Ed Harcourt, who Abrahams joined as a guitarist, playing lead guitar and scoring the instrumental parts on Harcourt's 2001 album Here Be Monsters,[4][7] as well as Harcourt's subsequent albums.[7]

    A couple of years later, Abrahams had a fortuitous meeting with producer and ambient music pioneer

    Drawn From Life, which was released in 2001. Abrahams went on to contribute instrumentals to a number of musicians produced by Eno, including Grace Jones, Seun Kuti, Nick Cave, and Paul Simon's 2006 album Surprise.[6][10]

    In 2010, Abrahams joined with long-time collaborators Jon Hopkins and Brian Eno[11] to create the album Small Craft on a Milk Sea. The album is based largely on a two-week period of joint improvisation,[4] as well as "several years of jams between the three of us", and is officially described as "a Brian Eno album featuring Leo Abrahams and Jon Hopkins."[1]

    As a guitarist he has played on over 100 records by artists including Florence and the Machine, Annie Lennox, Marianne Faithfull and Badly Drawn Boy. With David Holmes he contributed several instruments and co-wrote several tracks on Holmes' release The Holy Pictures.

    Abrahams has written with and produced for a variety of musicians.

    Silence is Easy by Starsailor, also conducting the orchestra at Abbey Road Studios.[7][9]

    He has played guitar for Pulp on their 2011–2012 reunion dates, although was not an official member of the band.

    Solo albums and film scores

    Inspired by his work on the film score to the 2003 film Code 46, Abrahams created his first solo album in 2005:[6] Honeytrap, released on Just Music. It relies primarily on ambient sounds generated exclusively by guitars, rejecting keyboard effects, sampling, computer effects, or keyboards.[4] The BBC referred to the album as "subtle, imaginative and sometimes intoxicatingly lovely."[10] Scene Memory (2006), his second solo album, was also in an ambient style, with sounds created entirely by playing electric guitars through chains of laptop effects.[12] A Boomkat review stated "Abrahams blends piano, guitar, and electronics to an almost euphoric effect – the record feels like you are walking in a dream."[13] Sea of Tranquility reviewed the album saying "he respects a certain level of restraint – the solo guitar- putting into sharp relief the...limitless opportunities for the resultant sounds and form. This work is thoughtful, adventurous, and the result of a high degree of artistic integrity."[14]

    His third album, the 2007 The Unrest Cure, was initially built out of sessions in New York with

    medieval lute,[6] and occasionally a hurdy-gurdy, which he learnt to play for the record.[4][16][17]

    He has released two further EPs on the Just Music label, and also released a vocal-based record on

    One Little Indian
    in 2011.

    He has co-written or arranged a variety of film soundtracks, including

    Oceans
    series with David Holmes.

    Discography

    Solo albums

    • Honeytrap (2005)
    • Scene Memory (2006)
    • The Unrest Cure (2007)
    • The Grape and the Grain (2008)
    • Daylight (2015)
    • Scene Memory II (2021)

    EPs and singles

    • EP1 (2006)
    • Searching 1906 (2006)
    • December Songs (2009)
    • Zero Sum (2013)
    • Yield (2022)

    Collaborations

    Soundtracks

    References

    1. ^ a b Van Buskirk, Eliot (23 August 2010). "Exclusive: Track List From Brian Eno's Upcoming Album, Small Craft on a Milk Sea". Wired. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
    2. ^ Mr. P (2 August 2010). "Brian Eno to release collaborative album with Jon Hopkins and Leo Abrahams on Warp". TinyMixTapes. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
    3. ^ "Leo Abrahams: Producer, Writer, Composer, Arranger". Solar Management. Archived from the original on 1 September 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
    4. ^ a b c d e f g "Artists: Leo Abrahams". JustMusic.com. Archived from the original on 17 July 2010. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
    5. ^ Hectic, Garry (1 February 2009). "Reviews: The Grape and the Grain". Fly Global Music. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
    6. ^ a b c d e Dilibrito, John (May 2009). "Leo Abrahams May CD of the Month". The Echoes Blog. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
    7. ^ a b c d e f g h "Biography". LeoAbrahams.com. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
    8. ^ "Leo Abrahams: Brian Eno, David Byrne, Wild Beasts". tapeop.com. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
    9. ^ a b c "Track of the Day: Leo Abrahams". QTheMusic. 3 October 2009. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
    10. ^ a b Marsh, Peter (8 August 2005). "Review: Honeytrap". BBC. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
    11. ^ Beta, Andy. "Brian Eno: Small Craft on a Milk Sea". SPIN. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
    12. ^ Burden, Andrew (31 July 2006). "Reviews: Scene Memory". Glasswerk. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
    13. ^ "Product Review: Scene Memory". Boomkat. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
    14. ^ Leimer, Kerry (3 August 2006). "Review: Scene Memory". Sea of Tranquility. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
    15. ^ Hayden, Guy (14 February 2008). "Review: The Unrest Cure". BBC. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
    16. ^ "Leo Abrahams – The Grape and The Grain". The 405. 1 April 2009. Archived from the original on 14 September 2010. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
    17. ^ Roffey, Pablo (17 April 2009). "Review of Leo Abrahams' album 'The Grape and the Grain'". ContactMusic. Retrieved 5 March 2011.

    External links

    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leo_Abrahams&oldid=1220397592"