The musical output of U.K. multi‑instrumentalist and composer Richard Skelton is not to be approached lightly. Since 2004, he has maintained Sustain‑Release, a private‑press record label dedicated to his late wife that intermittently dispatches micro‑runs of exquisitely designed and packaged recordings under a variety of pseudonyms, including A Broken Consort, Harlassen, Clouwbeck, Heidika, Riftmusic and Carousell. In 2008, Skelton released Marking Time, his first record under his given name. Recorded over four years in the hills and moors of Northern England, Skelton’s second album, Landings, is thematically demanding but accessibly beautiful. From the opening notes of “Noon Hill Wood,” whose rough and tumble violin strings invite you into the starkly beautiful physical geography of North England, and the psychological geography of Skelton’s own ruminations, Landings announces itself as a major work.

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