Alex Twomey’s Days Off, the second full length album under his own name, pronounces his evolving compositional approach. Following The Entertainer (Recital, 2019), this new album features a more intimate ensemble of piano, strings, bass, and guitar. Written between 2019 and 2021, the arrangements resemble pop-structured songs within the margins of sedate orchestral music. Twomey’s use of electric guitar is also unique; more as a blurred harmonic brush used to propel rhythmic cycles and key changes.

The influence of Michael Nyman, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, and other English-minimalists is present – but Twomey as one-man composer, performer, and producer delivers a rare intimacy, a sardonic view of days better spent. We’re transported to a restful couch in Alex’s living room. His cats sleeping around you like gods in relief as the album echoes from his studio in the next room. With repeating chords of matched exuberance and melancholy, Days Off evokes a familiarity both optimistic and sentimental.