First Light by Ideophone

London based multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Alex Reeve debuts his brand new solo project Ideophone with the lilting, nostalgic warmth of First Light.

A project dreamt up and executed in his own studio in south London, Alex began with the word alone: ideophone (to mimic or evoke an idea in sound).
Over the course of a year he did just that, evoking images, memories and meaning through sound. The results are captured on First Light, a masterfully skilled debut release whose deft musicianship belies its simple, curious, wide-eyed wonder.

Ideophone represents the meeting point of several musical paths: Alex is a founding member of the acclaimed UK jazz-leftfield trio Hejira, as well as the co-founder of Lima Limo Records and the celebrated TRAUM events in Central London that attracted performances from Micachu & The Shapes, Kwabs, Oliver Coates, Gwilym Gold, Eska and more. An accomplished musician and producer in his own right, he has worked with Floating Points, Matthew Herbert, The Invisible, Tawiah and many more

First Light was born without any preconceptions on the music. No calculated designs on what the record “should be”. For a musician so well travelled and well experienced, the project represents a newfound freedom to play and explore, to express creativity without boundaries, building music from in-studio tape cassette experiments, improvisations and processing loops. Influenced by musicians such as Bill Frisell, Arvo Part, Alice Coltrane, Radiohead, Bill Evans, Daniel Lanois, Talk Talk and Portishead the record’s four reflective, absorbing miniatures are full of great personal meaning and adventurous sonics

Though Ideophone represents Alex’s first steps as a solo musician, a handful of guest musicians grace First Light. Hejira’s Sam Beste and Rahel Debebe-Dessalegne contribute piano and voice respectively, while acclaimed UK cellist Francesca Ter-Berg’s wistfully flowing lines on record closer “Loom” eloquently underpin its subtly angular guitar.

The release of First Light will be celebrated with a performance at King’s Place on August 25th 2021.

Ideophone is London-based multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Alex Reeve. New Single 'Stasis' out now