Abby Sundborn is a quiet observer. An active composer, performer, improviser, and collaborator within Melbourne’s fertile DIY underground, she equally appreciates time spent on the other side of the stage, attentively listening, imagining, and finding beauty in her surroundings.

Classically trained but intuitively inclined, »Holding Pattern« is perhaps the clearest distillation of Sundborn’s musical vision — one rooted in intimacy and vulnerability, paying homage to countless memories both shared and in solitude. A time-dilating piece for cello and voice performed to a small audience, it is fragile music with a deceptive intensity that unravels far beyond the confines of the dimly lit space in which it was performed. The atmosphere is tense and palpable, held in seemingly infinite suspension by small yet deliberate gestures that delicately overlap. It feels decidedly human. Sundborn’s considered bowing and pizzicato are laid bare with little processing or intervention, and the composition at large feels beautifully curious and exploratory.

»Holding Pattern« is Sundborn’s first piece to feature her voice so prominently. At its apex lies »Shed«, a title symbolising the “breaking of habitual patterns” that can lead to one’s life becoming too routine and unconsciously self-destructive. The interplay between her cello and voice is mantric and entrancing, portraying an emotionally attuned composer with a deft sensitivity to space and time. “I knew I wanted to make something that felt warm and focused, but not so much that you can’t get out.” Always self-observational and never rushed, Sundborn seemingly utilises negative space as moments of reflection — her voice a vessel for ascension and grief that drifts slowly into the distance.

Sundborn’s work is rigorous yet free-flowing, and has appeared on a diverse range of labels, including Altered States, Daisart, and Absorb. »Holding Pattern« is her first appearance on A Colourful Storm, following time shared on stage and in collaboration with Tony Buck (The Necks), Jonnine (HTRK), and Lisa Lerkenfeldt (Shelter Press).