Tori Handsley - Rivers of Mind single Review

Tori Handsley is bringing classical music into modern day popular culture. Handsley is making the harp ‘cool’ her talent and skill on the instrument combined with pop, rock and jazz style sounds is making her an increasingly popular artist with unique music to open people’s mind and challenge people’s perception of the harp by showing it’s not just for the classical genre. 

Handsley’s talent on the instrument and her ability to make the harp ‘modern’ are demonstrated in her new single ‘Rivers of Mind’ with its variation of musical genres demonstrated throughout including electro, jazz and a soft rock vibe. 

The song opens with a lounge style electro backing but the main sound is the drum solo the begins to build and become more frantic until the harp is then introduced at which point the drums still intense becomes the background sound and becomes more consistent sound wise. Throughout the song Handsley has a varied back and forth between electro style harp and the more classical harp sound that people are more familiar with. 

The song itself is a completely instrumental song and yet it still feels like it’s got weight behind it and it still has power vibes, there doesn’t feel like something is missing with no lyrics; it feels like a song that is designed to be played loud be it through headphones or through speakers. It’s very much a song that you can feel going through you mostly from the frantic power of the drums.

For me I found listening to the song at different volumes elicited very different listening experiences, with low volume I found I honed in more on the harp sound and found that took centre stage audio wise but when I played it loud the drums very much became what my ears focused on. 

But I did find this song personally to be a dual purpose song because even with its electro rock style vibes; I found that listening on low volume I still found the songs jazz style undertones to be a more chilled audio experience and with the harp being my main audio focus I did find it somewhat relaxing and soothing. 

However, when I listen to the song at high volume my experience was very different I found it to be a power anthem of sorts because I could feel the vibrations of the drum radiate through me and I found that when the harp then came in I would get shivers not unlike the vibrational shivers of the harp running through me and it left me feeling ‘pumped up’ and it felt like a completely different song to me. 

The song for me is very much an different kind of listening experience and it’s an new listening experience because when you initially think of the harp, immediately the mind thinks slow paced ‘quiet’ classical style song; but Handsley takes that presumption and completely flips it in its head by bringing this upbeat techno, electro, soft rock sound with hints of jazz undertones. 

It’s a song that feels very current and modern and it wouldn’t sound out of place if played in a bar or club because it has an almost mesmerising hypnotic quality to it sound wise with the drum beats and the modernisation and classical harp sounds. The single is such an interesting audio experience and one I think everyone should definitely indulge in. 

- Georgina Shine

@imjustabandgeek