Bill Laurance and Michael League are the most prominent members of Grammy-winning supergroup Snarky Puppy, not the least because of their side careers. Laurance has won plaudits for his highly original, often cinematic solo piano material; while League's similarly acclaimed projects include the globally-minded Bokanté, in which he wigs out on oud instead of electric bass. This pairing finds the friends expressing themselves in ways spacious, melodic and harmony-driven on 11 original tracks, with Laurance eschewing digital effects for felt-dampened strings and League on oud, ngoni lute and custom-made fretless guitars. Very much their own acoustic soft-keys-meets-microtones creation, Where You Wish You Were is a quietly powerful work, shimmering with light and shade, textures and possibilities. Highlights are many: first single ‘Sant Esteve’, an instrumental, has the spare, heart-wrenching beauty of an aria. ‘La Marinada’, with a melody alternating between oud and piano over a simple descending progression, is testament to the duo's easy telepathy. The frenetic, freeform ‘Round House’ finds Laurance playing polyrhythms with welcome gritty fervour, while the title track layers nuanced, vibrating oud over oh-so-delicate piano motifs. A tonic for our tough times.

Jazzwise spoke to Bill Laurance about the album

Why a duo album?

Having worked together for so long, it was only a matter of time before we made a duo record. Just after the first lockdown we hired a car and did a short duo tour in southern Italy, playing a combination of covers and our own compositions. It was so much fun we decided to write music specifically for the duo, and recorded the following year at Mike's studio in Catalunya, Spain.

Was the idea to get away from what you both play elsewhere?

In contrast to both Snarky Puppy and my solo albums, this record presented an opportunity to explore a new dynamic and texture. Writing for duo with no rhythm, wind or string section to hide behind required a specific approach to composition in which every note carried more weight. We also had fun exploring the freedom and dynamic range that playing as a duo provides.

Felt on the piano: what difference did it make?

Putting felt on a piano is a bit like eating Pringles – It's really hard to take the felt off once you’ve put it on! The softer tone lets you play more rhythmically without it becoming fatiguing, more like a guitar. Its warmth ended up being central, a rounded foundation for the higher timbre of the oud. There are a few moments through the album where I muted the strings with a free hand for a muted rhythm guitar effect when it was needed.

Mike playing fretless instruments was very significant in providing a more expressive palate from the lead voice. I think had he played fretted instruments the balance of melody and accompaniment would have felt very different.

What are some of the main themes? Why the title Where You Wish You Were?

We recorded during Covid, at a time of significant uncertainty in the world. Without necessarily realising it, the energy and sentiment of the record was a response to this. Everything was stripped back. We wanted the album to be comforting. A place that you could escape to. Where you might wish you were. I think all the songs on the record seem to have a sense of depth to them. There's something about only two musicians playing together that generates a special kind of focus.

What was the compositional process?

It was a mixture. Some songs we wrote individually, others one of us would write a melody or bass line and the other would compose around it. Less was more; every compositional character had a clear and necessary role. Every compositional/production choice had a clear and valid reason. It was all about simplicity and clarity.

We were keen to explore the other end of the spectrum from Snarky Puppy and my own solo work – full of epic textures and amplification. We wanted to celebrate the intimacy and fragility of a duo and record it in the most organic and live way possible, with barely any overdubs and very little post production.

The most interesting thing about this record is how much it contrasts to all our previous work in both the conception and realisation. In the past it was always about adding layers, reinforcing ideas making it bigger and fuller. This time round the approach was precisely the opposite. The music was more engaging when we created more space and took a simpler approach.