Artist Spotlight: Anne Vanschothorst “RIFF” Remix Single Review
- Produced by a Girl™
- Aug 3
- 2 min read
Anne Vanschothorst, the ever-inventive Dutch harpist and multidisciplinary artist, teams up with producer and sound designer Thijs de Melker on “RIFF” to craft a sonic world you can step right into. Inspired by Bob Gramsma’s land art monument Riff, PD#18245, this track takes the acoustic harp and lets it bloom into a lush, ambient landscape, alive with echoes of geography, memory, and imagination.
Set in Flevoland, a Dutch polder reclaimed from the sea, the sculpture leaves behind the memory of an excavated space in the landscape. That backstory instantly gives “RIFF” a sense of depth and intrigue. This isn’t just music inspired by a sculpture; it’s a living extension of the artwork’s dance with land, water, and open space, inviting us into a dreamy underwater soundscape.
What started as a simple acoustic harp solo soon blossomed into something much bigger. Through creative layering, spatial effects, and subtle electronic touches, the harp transforms; sometimes feeling right at your fingertips, other times floating far away like signals in a vast underwater chamber. The notes stretch, blur, and morph, making the instrument feel unbound and alive.
Anne sees the harp as a playful companion, even picturing its strings as if they were made from clay. That sculptor’s touch is all over “RIFF.” Here, sound isn’t just played; it’s shaped, pressed, and given space to breathe. Thijs de Melker’s production lets the electronics lift and frame the harp, always keeping its tactile, organic feel front and center.
The end result floats between ambient, contemporary classical, and sound art, but honestly, genre doesn’t even matter here. “RIFF” follows its own instincts, blending sound, space, and emotion into something you feel as much as you hear. It invites you to listen differently; to wander between the notes, notice the silences, and see what rises up inside you.
There’s a quiet boldness in how “RIFF” takes its time. In a world that’s always chasing the next big moment, this track lets its changes unfold slowly, almost like the shifting of the earth itself. The music drifts and settles, echoing the monument’s balance between emptiness and form. What starts out simple reveals more and more detail, rewarding anyone who sticks around to really listen.
This patience is central to Vanschothorst’s work.
Her compositions emerge from silence, curiosity, and a willingness to explore at the heart of Anne’s music. Her pieces grow out of silence and curiosity, always open to wherever the journey leads. Nature isn’t just a backdrop; it’s a guide for both the outside world and your own inner landscape.
On “RIFF,” that openness lets beauty and disruption live side by side, giving every listener room to find their own meaning.eated a work that does not merely represent place but makes place audible. Haunting, spacious, and quietly transformative, it reminds us that music can function as architecture, memory, sculpture, and breath; and that sometimes the most powerful journey begins by slowing down enough to listen.
Connect with Anne Vanschothorst
Written by PBG Press Chief Editor: Mary Knoblock
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