In their third full-length album, Gregor Samsa takes a new approach to composition, both in process & instrumentation. The result is Rest; nine pieces composed over e-mail during the course of nine months by key members. In Rest, GS expand on their affinity for minimal, classical instrumentation mixed with mangled & manipulated sound through integration of new instruments such as the celesta, clarinet, classical voice & vibraphone. Along with these new sounds, guitar has been almost entirely replaced by piano, whose parts were recorded on a rare Bösendorfer once owned by Philip Glass. These pieces demonstrate a shift in focus to harmony, restraint & the use of muted tones, while less interest is taken in the large dynamic shifts that once carried the weight of many of their compositions.
