Douwe Eisenga: Another Month Another Year
Butler Records

Dutch composer Douwe Eisenga has written material for chamber groups and orchestras, yet his music, like so many a composer's, begins at the keyboard; it's no coincidence that one of his better-known and most-admired pieces, For Mattia, is a solo piano setting. While many of the seven instrumental works on his latest release, the self-produced Another Month Another Year, are elaborately arranged, piano remains solidly in place as the foundation. Creating the material entirely by himself, Eisenga deployed an arsenal of keyboards and electronic gear to simulate small ensemble performances that either pulse with energy or invite meditative immersion.

As its title implies, time is the album's thematic centre, the choice perhaps indicative of growing awareness on its creator's part of time's inexorable passage and seeming acceleration. Eisenga's at that age where life seems to be vanishing before one's eyes, quite literally so when friends and family begin passing away in ever-increasing number. In the uptempo tracks, he appears to be recalling the high-energy days of youth, whereas the slower, introspective ones play like lyrical reflections on aging. Contrasts in tempo and arrangement differentiate the pieces, yet Another Month Another Year ultimately registers as a cohesive, thematically-integrated suite as opposed to a set of unrelated tracks. Classical minimalism has long been a part of Eisenga's music, but, like any composer who's developed an individual voice, he's personalized it so that his music sounds like his alone.

The pronounced hypnotic character of his music is present when “In the Quiet of Change” introduces the release with a slow-building series of haunting melodic fragments and syncopated rhythms. Animated by a graceful lilt and interlocking design, the piece grows in power as layers accumulate and sounds of horns, woodwinds, piano, and percussion work in tandem. As the piece works towards its climax, one becomes increasingly sensitive to the music's nuance and elegance. The haunting aura of the opening carries over into “February,” its title wholly complementary to the solemnity many experience during the darkest days of winter and the arrangement stripped-down to convey the longing that housebound isolation brings. In another universe, one might imagine the late Angelo Badalamenti writing material so tender.

As autumnal as anticipated, “September” shows how effectively a work can blossom from the simplest of elements, in this case a repeating piano note and softly murmuring mallet patterns. Like other settings on the release, the piece expands in drama, volume, and arrangement as it advances towards its climax. During the recording's second half, “Mount Vernon” and “Returning Days” pulse with dynamism and excitement, their chugging rhythms as propulsive and unrelenting as a train's. But Eisenga isn't done contemplating soberly time's passing, as his remarkable study in introspection, “Night Song,” and the eloquent, dignified closer, “Older,” make clear.

October 2025