Album Review: All Will Prosper by Goldmund

None of the music Keith Kenniff makes under any of his guises -- as Helios, or as half of the duo Mint Julep -- is really the least bit difficult or demanding, but the solo piano-oriented Goldmund is probably the most anodyne of all of his projects, and this fifth release under that name may well be his most pleasantly unchallenging yet -- unless you're the sort of person who's easily riled up by hearing the melody of "Dixie. " All Will Prosper is a collection of 14 Civil War-era folk songs (plus one more recently composed dead ringer, "Ashoken Farewell") rendered in sparse, minimalist arrangements featuring only delicate, close-miked acoustic guitar and reverberant upper-register piano. There's the occasional hint of simple, organic ambient techniques (such as one of these instruments being used in an atmospheric, drone-like or gently percussive fashion) but the focus is squarely, unabashedly on presenting these almost innately familiar melodies as simply and as beautifully as possible.

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Keith Kenniff's last album under his Goldmund moniker, 2010's Famous Places, created its own atmosphere and geography. The solo piano pieces were spare but reached out and made the space around them part of their sound. For his follow-up, however, Kenniff has shifted to representing an existing time and place in lieu of creating his own. The 15 songs that comprise All Will Prosper are all Civil War-era tunes, with the exception of the more contemporary "Ashoken Farewell." Kenniff, himself a Civil War buff, seeks to represent some of the quieter emotions around war, and does so with a clear deference to the history he's representing here.

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Keith Kenniff is best known for his ambient electronic project Helios, but that’s just one aspect of this multifaceted artist. In addition to husband and wife dream pop duo Mint Julep, Kenniff also records under the name Goldmund. All Will Prosper, the fifth and latest album from Goldmund, consists primarily of traditional folk songs popular during the Civil War era presented as stripped-down, instrumental pieces.

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