On February 2nd, breath-taking post-classical artist Poppy Ackroyd releases her first full-length album with One Little Indian Records, ‘Resolve‘. A classically trained pianist, violinist, producer, and composer, Ackroyd turned heads in the neo-classical world with her previous works Escapement and Feathers, as well as her involvement in Hidden Orchestra (Tru Thoughts).

Having played alongside giants of the genre, Hauschka and Nils Frahm, the unique musician has returned, newly signed to Bjork’s label One Little Indian Records, fresh off the back of a mini-album ‘Sketches’, and set to release her brand new self-produced full-length record – her most ambitious and progressive piece of work to date.

The ground-breaking album explores life’s constant challenges, and many of the songs are extremely personal to Poppy. In her own words: “Resolve is about the determination to embrace the good things in life whilst dealing with unexpected and challenging difficulties. Finding the light in the dark, facing sadness and loss head on, and developing a growing inner strength.”

Ackroyd creates percussive textures from traditional classical instruments, and the result is almost the emulation of an entire orchestra, using very few instruments combined with the artist’s incredible production skills.

She even plays the inside of the piano using fingers, drumsticks and plectrums – and then arranges and multi-tracks the resulting sounds. Although a keen collaborator outside of her solo work – having created soundtracks for film, dance, physical theatre and radio – this is the first record for which Poppy has written for and employed other players, including Manu Delago (Bjork, Cinematic Orchestra, Anoushka Shankar) playing hang, Mike Lesirge (Bonobo, Andreya Triana) playing clarinets and flute, and Jo Quail on cello. The result is a fantastic fusion of acoustic and electronic in a post-classical setting.

‘A musical talent that straddles both old and new, harnessing the power and range of two very versatile instruments along with innovative use of samples and manipulation through technology. A must for fans of Silvain Chauveau, Dustin O’Halloran and Max Richter.’ – The 405