Igloo Magazine :: Thme :: Overleaf (laaps)

Varying degrees of remotion from original form

Two years on from Anti Atlas (see igloo’view) Thme returns to laaps. From a few intense months recording every part found its way onto Overleaf, fragmented and reassembled, transformed, varying degrees of remotion from original form, the process issuing in a kind of puzzle of accumulated sound, accident and imperfection.

First sighted in early lockdown (Elsewhereness revisited #19) with that’s what it will be like (whitelabrecs, 2020) noted for a ‘virtual chronostasis captured by the Parisian, who saw his studio as a space for temporal arrest in an intense period,’ and ‘bliss-scapes with swathes of drone, echo, crackle, and voice translated into glistening melodic future daze’ Théo Martin‘s work found favor here, since when it has moved on apace.

Nestled between analog warmth and post-digital dislocation ::

At the core of the Paris-based producer’s creative process is magnetic tape, imbuing his work with a poignant fragility; and while, as on Anti Atlas, use of tape is central, Overleaf deploys digital tools to push further, fragmenting, layering, remake-remodeling, stretching sounds beyond recognition, as on the submerged “Collage,” the unmoored “Closer, closer” and the oceanic title track. Accidents and errors are folded in, honored as hidden intention (thanks, Brian!), adding to the appealing slippery tactility of the resulting languorous acousmatic collage, nestled between analog warmth and post-digital dislocation.

For the unfamiliar and those seeking better acquaintance with Thme, he has previous via Seil Records (Red roses are red now, Nocens), Vaagner (A Grasp of Wonder) and Lontano Series (Silesco) and team-ups with spirit-kin artists like Lamasz and Agyt. For Thme familiars, Overleaf offers more sustenance in music that speaks to ‘longing, heartfelt aspirations, and the quiet hope that keeps us reaching for what lies ahead,’ (Anti Atlas blurb), and further testimony to Thme’s transformative alchemy.