House Of Light CD feat. Alex Hitchcock, Jasper Høiby, Sun-Mi Hong (extremely limited edition)

‘House of Light’ is the second studio instalment from Same Moon in the Same World - the collaboration between Ant and saxophonist/composer Alex Hitchcock. Here they team up with the brilliant, international wave makers Jasper Høiby (bass) and Sun-Mi Hong (drums).

‘House of Light’ was released by Dutch indie jazz label ZenneZ Records on March 6th. The official release concert took place on March 28th at the groundbreaking Transition Jazz Festival (at TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht, the Netherlands). “Expect virtuoso playing, inventive compositions, and a unique blend of various jazz influences”, according to the festival. Hitchcock is praised for his boundless combinations of musicians from different generations and regions.

‘House of Light’ contains 11 tracks written by Ant and Alex. Let’s zoom in on some of them. The first single, ‘Fear of Flying’, is a composition by Alex Hitchcock. “I was trying to stretch things out here. There are many aspects of Sun’s playing that make me want to play free - I think she often takes the group towards that direction and I always think it suits Ant and Jasper because their virtuosity and lightning fast reaction time means they can always make astonishing things happen in the moment. So I wanted something frenetic that would go round and round and gradually break down - but that we would come flying out of the other side!”

Of ‘Big Sun' Ant says: “We’re flying through the cosmos on this one. It feels to me like we’re travelling fast on a spacecraft - but we’re always aware of this gargantuan star burning away - you can hear the alien radio broadcast interference at the start of the track.” Alex says: We’re trying to create a sense of scale here, of breadth but also depth - there’s an obstinate guitar part that whirls around and disorientates us beneath the warmth of the bass and guitar hits and the angular saxophone melody. There’s a fierce drum solo towards the end where Sun-Mi has space to build up a head of steam.”

‘Blue & Gold’ is about conflict and resolution. “It’s in the blue/gold key of Dmajor, with a very insistent theme - an immutable “point of view”. We rub Eb minor pentatonic against it and there are some tense rhythms - this is the conflict.” Alex adds to this: “I remember recording engineer Sam Crowe’s eyes getting wider and wider as Ant and threw down his solo on this. The whole thing is underpinned by the relentless energy created by Sun and Jasper, and it almost feels like Ant and I are a separate system somehow floating over the top. There are moments of unreserved euphoria on this take and I’m glad we took the energy we manage to generate live into the studio, and were able to capture it.” ‘Cay’ is Alex’s favorite composition of Ant on the album. “He has a real knack as a composer for pulling you as an improviser into different headspace because of the strength atmospheres he creates in his writing. There is a wooziness to this one that brings something different out of the band.” According to Ant ‘Cay’ is an “oceanic track: sometimes I scroll across maps, trying to find tiny sand cays and islands in remote places - I try to imagine what it would be like to live on one. This is what I imagine.”

The album closes with ‘Orphan Source’, released as second single. Alex says: “I think this song expands the emotional range of the album - there’s lots of melancholy on this track but there are some beautiful textures as well when Sun moves to hand percussion in trio with Ant and Jasper at the end.” Ant says: We wanted to wrap things up with a sombre song. This is a cautionary tale incorporating some blues tones. The title refers to a radioactive source which is no longer regulated.”

Recording: 3rd & 4th March 2024 at SAJE
Engineer: Sam Crowe
Mixing: Garry Boyle at Slate Room Studio
Mastering: Peter Beckmann at TechnologyWorks Mastering
Produced by Ant Law, Alex Hitchcock