“So, when you play this live, you just have to figure out a way to construct a huge bell jar to put over the entire orchestra except the cello player.” That is how a friend of Christina Vantzou’s described her aesthetic back to her, per Vantzou’s own recollection when [I interviewed her a few years ago](https://disquiet.com/2015/11/09/christina-vantzou-bell-jar-no3/) on the occasion of her third album, *Nº3* (Kranky). It’s an apt comparison. There is a restraint, a sense of sounds emanating down a dark hall, music heard through thick fabric, to Vantzou’s recordings, and the approach holds strong on her new album, *No. 4*, released earlier this month.
This *No. 4* track, “Staircases,” exemplifies Vantzou’s approach. Traditional classical elements, heavy on sedate strings and a minimal piano line that descends like the title subject, are heard in a quiet but intense echo, one in which space — whether real or virtual, physical or a matter of post-production — is as much an instrument as the instruments themselves.
Album posted at [christinavantzou.bandcamp.com](https://christinavantzou.bandcamp.com/album/no-4). More from Vantzou at her [youtube.com](http://www.youtube.com/user/christinavantzou) channel and at [christinavantzou.com](http://www.christinavantzou.com).