Stone Fruit - Hold Me CLose
By Libby Driscoll
Hold Me Close is the product of London-based duo Valentini Pavlidou and Lef Germenlis, which sees the pair reflect on their individual experiences throughout lockdown, addressing both the melancholic and joyful aspects of their time throughout the unique period. The project has been an experimental endeavour for Stone Fruit, allowing an ‘organic, human element to be dominant’ through their work…
Stone Fruit - Hold Me Close
“in this EP we wanted to record more organic sounds, where the human element is dominant, and we had the pleasure to collaborate with some amazing musicians that are featured in three of the songs. Owen Smalley, (Guitar) Alex Bramwell (Bass) and Argyris Thomoglou (Drums) have been a breath of fresh air and brought new life to what was born in our home studio”
- Stone Fruit
Stand Up launches the five-track EP, giving us a perfect insight of the duo’s sound about to follow; it introduces its lounge-jazz atmosphere, R’n’B beats and fierce syncopation between the instrumentation. The track also utilises refined modulation throughout its choruses, carrying a varied collage of chordal exploration to prick your ears right from the start.
The title track of the EP, Hold Me Close, holds an ethereal, heavenly kind of ambience to it- it’s not doused in effects but the overall atmosphere of the composition is unbelievably strong, effortlessly earning its place as title track of the EP; it’s captivating, catchy and fresh enough to allow itself to stand strong whilst still holding a comforting sensation of familiarity.
Stone Fruit pictured by Ellie Kouthouri
“Although all the songs live in a very similar space, they highlight different musings about what is happening around us. In a year haunted by the pandemic, our emotional state as human beings was changing rapidly from one day to the next. We had the privilege to integrate all our emotions and thoughts, whether they were melancholic or joyful in the lyrics, instrumentation, and trajectory of each song. We hope that the listeners can come on a journey with us, interpret the songs in their own way and give them new meaning.”
- Stone Fruit
Second Guess follows as the third track taking a more electronic approach to the music, allowing the listener some soothing clarity between the active tracks with a more laxed ambience, lead by jazzy electronic keys. Closing the originals on the EP is These Days, cutting through with one last punch before the bonus track cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Everywhere to close the album. These Days incorporates numerous central elements of funk to give the track its groove, including strong syncopated components and a driving wah-bass throughout the song- it’s the kind of track you find very difficult to not move along to. The layers of the music develop on top of one another into a climactic celebration to end the EP, leaving a resonant ringing tingling throughout your body, cementing the name that is Stone Fruit.
Hold Me Close certainly feels like the rawest release from Stone Fruit so far, baring natural emotions and sheer passion in the EP’s performance. What I find especially endearing about Hold Me Close is its sheer level of truthfulness; this is well, and truly, Stone Fruit.