Origins is most certainly an apt title and hints to a time when simplicity, relaxed timbres, and lilting notes were the focal point during production. Axiom 23 displays these sonic slices of life bouncing between light to darker soundscapes with ease and utter control.
Calm, drifting waves open on “Above the Sky,” a pleasant sojourn through nature, synthesizers are warmed up and dipping into and out of the background. Axiom 23 elevates tranquilized sounds on Origins, an 8-track that communicates via ambient undercurrents of yesterday. Brisk and bubbly, mid-90s era electronic listening music is the mood here, “Higher Communications (Hyper Script)” being the classic example. I’m reminded of Aphelion’s Zugzwang (DeFocus, 2000) where Detroit inspired strings (of life) ebb and flow as noted on the fragrant “Hidden Lagoon.” The are melodies of childhood for advanced imagination featured on Origins as well—”Memory Child” is a track that is distilled yet filled with a certain peace of mind and playfulness, its downtempo BOC-triggered melodies are drenched in a wash of modular activity. “Still Studies” once again reaches for those leftfield Motor City notes—think of The Detroit Escalator Company’s Black Buildings (Peacefrog, 2002). Origins is most certainly an apt title and hints to a time when simplicity, relaxed timbres, and lilting notes were the focal point during production. Axiom 23 displays these sonic slices of life bouncing between light to darker soundscapes with ease and utter control. With the above-mentioned snapshots from the past, Sweden’s Axiom 23 has much to offer in todays musical environment, and I look forward to the next launching point.
Origins is available on Kahvi.
