The Act Of Noticing is an invitation to enter a sound world rich in sonic imagery, evocative atmosphere, and finely wrought detail. This album takes listeners on a journey, at one moment guiding them through changing musical landscapes at high speed, at another inviting them to simply stop and stare. Espial emerged from a discussion between David Beebee and myself about how to develop and extend the musical language we had established on our duo album for Discus, “Ripples”. David felt that expanding the group to a trio would be a good idea, and suggested inviting Josephine. Our first session playing together worked very well and so this new ensemble was born. 

The music on the album is almost entirely improvised. Listening back to the takes, there seemed to be a very evocative, organic quality to the pieces which informed the titling decisions. Just one piece, “… fresh snowfall at dawn”, used pre-composed material as a basis for improvisation. Everything else is entirely spontaneous. Everything is played live, with no overdubs. Espial is an archaic word meaning “the act of noticing”, which seemed hugely appropriate and appealing as the name for an improvising group.