David August's most expansive, ambitious album to date, the Italian – German composer and producer lets his vast sonic universe collapse, rediscovering in its wake an instrument that's been a constant presence in his life. Hymns is a deeply personal set of candid piano – led reflections that tell a simpler but far more distinctive story; rather than concentrate on the life cycle of humanity and civilization, August narrows his field of vision, tracing his own background and re - asserting his relationship with a musical language he'd tried hard to unlearn. An intimate, instinctual album that emerged from isolation and contemplation, Hymns is also a surprisingly hopeful suite of soft hued, evocative improvisations that well up from the depths of the soul. In August's own words, "it should recall light, not darkness."