LE SON

London, 2026

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Tom Blankenberg is a Düsseldorf-based composer, pianist, sound designer, and filmmaker. He envisions his musical work to sit between Bill Evans and Arvo Pärt; serenity through impressions. After two successful albums, Atermus and et, Blankenberg returns with le son, released on his own label Less Records. Following his intention to focus simply on the music, the sound — le son —, Blankenberg produces eight pieces reflective of his minimalist approach to music, allowing improvisation to breathe in the organic purity of the acoustic piano.

“Seymour” opens le son and right away the listener is brought into Blankenberg’s musical world — where sound and silence coexist, and each musical choice is deliberate and in just the right measure. Interestingly, a work that seems itself to settle in, almost exploratively. “Arigato” reflects on both Blankenberg’s own life — he grew up in the Little Tokyo district of Düsseldorf —, some of his influences, such as the music of Sakamoto, and his own artistic aesthetics, emphasising a minimalist approach and focusing on the less rather than the more — coincidentally leading him to name his record label Less Records. “Athens” shows Blankenberg’s own angular approach to melody — it is here, present and a foundational element of his music, yet it disguises itself, shyly, without excessive display of emotions or drama, and evolves slowly over time. “Nood” is a more playful piece; carrying a strong impromptu feel and allowing the listener to connect directly with Blankenberg’s musical mind whilst he explores the range of the keyboard. In “Dahlem”, Blankenberg seems to balance both space and distance when it comes to approaching time, and closeness when it comes to harmony, with a music full of cluster chords and small dissonances. “Adit” is a gentle ballad; even when there is a sense of pace, it is always gentle and almost hiding, as to not reveal itself too much and allow the listener to fill in. “Arobertum” or music in suspension — a sense of nostalgia due to the chord progression and the almost choral-like quality found in the music of Bach. “Seydour” closes the release with beautiful chordal music, a call and response between sound and silence.

It took four years for Blankenberg to come up with le son; a process that took time and allowed the music to take a life of its own, resting and developing with time. The result is a music that breathes its own air; developed in time and over time, with at times few chords which create a sense of eternity, absence of repetition and imposing silences. For Blankenberg, this work is also a statement of radicalisation and economic disobedience. Even the artwork turns the listener to the music; an inventive collage of scanner images creating a blur of what is looked at, and directing the listener to the essential; the sound.

le son defies all expectations of current music — there is no agenda, no story, no concept; just music. Blankenberg cares less about its reception than its conception. He describes the music as having been composed by missing the algorithm, and what he means by that is a strong wish to ignore a certain tendency to compose and produce music which will succeed online and on social networks. Blankenberg, with le son, makes music for the sake of music, echoing the concept of Théophile Gautier — art for art’s sake.