New York based violinist Elizabeth Tsung is here to shock, amaze, and leave you entirely in awe with her talent and composition on her latest record Illusions. Her second EP, Illusions is a searing record with five original instrumental compositions that take the classical style and display it with a fervour and precision you’ll be yearning to hear more of. This album focuses on her experience with mental health struggles and the illusions she would create to bring a sense of safety.
The album opens with ‘Opening’, a haywire and almost frenetic explosion which sees Tsung instantly grab you and showcase her pure talent on the strings. The rest of the record doesn’t offer a similar chaos or speed, choosing instead to take a more subtle and calming approach. Illusions Intro and Part II feature a string quartet, and Tsung plays the violin for the first violin parts.
The entire record feels cinematic in nature, an almost larger than life sequence of short but succinct pieces of classical music that put you in a state of complete unfiltered bliss and exaltation. There’s a sense of serenity that Tsung wants to evoke, that same coating of safety she manages to capture for herself is brought to life through the magic of the strings across Illusions. The piano work in the album’s closer, ‘Elegy No. 2’ is another definitive highlight, completely bringing the entire record to a standstill where the listener is left feeling a warmth inside that keeps your spark alive even amidst a whirlwind of unrest all around you.
A truly magical instrumental journey from a classical violinist who’s compositional sensibilities will leave you yearning for more.