Drawing us in with delicate and emotive high keys, Ashot Danielyan opens his album, Spontaneous Piano Journeys with a track called Warm Winter, featuring classical elegance and a cinematic allure. There is a meditative quality to the performance, sublime and reminiscent of early Rachmaninoff and Chopin. There is no doubt that the track would sit perfectly as the score for a scene in a Luca Guadagnino film.
The charisma that Ashot Danielyan performs with feels raw and authentic, and this makes sense as we learn that this album was improvised over a series of months from December 2025 until February 2026. This leads us to 9 AM, which holds a more paced energy, the temporal shift allows for reflection, but continues to embrace the more meditative vibe, this time with rhythmic chords. The emotional depth feels sincere and poetic.
Almost Nobody Wants To Be A God Here is a powerful title and embraces us with intriguing arpeggios. We appreciate the juxtaposition of the drama with the astral notes. The delicate and the haunting intertwine to create curiosity and a sense of grounding escapism.
This brings us to Morning In C Maj, which naturally sees a shift into a more optimistic frequency based on the chords alone. Thus far, the album has been rooted in minor keys, so this sonic shift is welcome, demonstrating the dimensionality of the composer. That said, there is still a high emotional quotient that manifests, and again the composition is rooted in peaceful notions.
Cold Winter serves as a follow up to the opening track, similar in construction, but differing in energy. The coldness transmutes through the keys and the performance. The track is mostly performed dry, which adds to the allure of the coldness. This piece reminds us of Beethoven and also Michael Nyman, particularly with reference to the arpeggios. This serves as the second longest track on the record, and holds a dynamic nature, particularly as the bass notes and brooding chords come into play creating notions of melancholia, but finally ascending towards with a punctuated finish.
This leads us to In D Minor, serving as another 5 minute opus, brimful with detail and celestial notes. We are emotionally moved by this piece as it holds a timeless resonance as the high keys invite us to embrace our more introspective energy. The grace that this is performed with is unparalleled, and we could imagine that Ashot Danielyan might be crying at the piano, whilst performing this.
Before The New Moon is delicate in its expression and poetic in its resonance. We appreciate the temporal shifts and the fact that this is the lengthiest track on the record. It holds a cinematic allure, perfect for the score of a Twilight film, or perhaps a recreation of The Intouchables. This composition is possibly the most intricate experience on the album. The riffs are sublime, and the depth that Ashot Danielyan performs with feels inspired and celestial at the same time. The astral notes reflect the stars, whilst the ebbs and flows of the bass notes reflect the tides. It is a very expansive piece.
Classical Man feels self-referential and poetic, it carries a quiet ache, akin to the emotional heart of the composer and we feel like we also receive an insight into his personality with this track. Next is Story In C-Sharp which holds a more minimalist expression. Intricate in its design and cinematic in its performance. Again, perfect for the emotive score of a Sofia Coppola film.
Finally, we experience, Old Habits Die Hard which wraps up the album with drama and detail. We are enthralled by the track which features elements of all preceding nine tracks, bringing us full circle in a way. The emotion remains heightened but also serves up notions of escapism and wonderment. Almost like the closing of one chapter and the opening of another.
Needless to say, we are moved by Spontaneous Piano Journeys, which is available via Bandcamp. We also continue to stream the wider discography of Ashot Danielyan on Spotify.