Max Greenwood: In the Quiet of the Evening – A beacon of reflective positivity

In her book Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, Katherine May offers an inspiring evocation on embracing the darkness of the season. As the nights draw in and spring feels like a very distant country, the composer and pianist rreleases a timely musical paean to slowing down and taking stock.

Greenwood, a Nottingham native who has lived in Ireland since 2005, wrote and recorded In the Quiet of the Evening at home, on a 1997 upright piano. The album is a comforting collection of tender instrumentals, comprising eight tracks over 35 soothing minutes that will entice listeners to play the album again and again.

A multitude of sources inform this deceptively minimal album. The opening track, Candle, testifies to the lighting of candles as a common way to meditate and remember. We Built This City commemorates and celebrates the hordes of Irish immigrants and huddled masses who built New York City, while Pallas references Greek mythology and the goddess and protector of Athens. The closing track, The Point of Tide, which began life as a collaboration with the well-loved local singer Jerry Fish, goes right back to the historical origins of the Dublin dockside suburb of Ringsend,

In the Quiet of Evening is a safe and cosy place to luxuriate in this winter, a shimmering candle of hope and beacon of reflective positivity.