There’s a stillness to “Meet You In Notting Hill” that I haven’t been able to shake since my first listen. Julia Thomsen and Raphael Beaudon’s debut collaboration, out now, is the kind of piano piece you put on when you want the room to go quiet with you.

Beaudon takes the lead on piano, and honestly, his touch is what got me. There’s a tenderness in the way he plays, nothing showy, just honest and unguarded. Thomsen layers her strings around him with so much care, adding warmth without ever pulling focus from the melody he built. As a first collaboration, it plays like two people who already know how to listen to each other.

I kept waiting for the piece to rush somewhere, and it never does. Every note gets its space before the next one shows up, and that patience is exactly what makes it feel so personal. It has this cinematic quality to it, sure, but it never once feels distant. It feels like something written for one person, and I happened to be listening.

Thomsen shared that she usually handles most of the piano herself, but chose to step back this time and let Beaudon lead, adding her own touch to his idea instead. I love that detail. You can hear that generosity in the final piece, the way she made room for him rather than the other way around.

“Meet You In Notting Hill” is a gentle, thoughtful beginning to what I hope becomes a longer story between these two. Give it a few quiet minutes. It earns them.