A touching, soundtrackesque, playful and emotionally restful album with a taste of homemade experimentation.
Ben Rath is a versatile and intuitively imaginative experimental composer and sound architect based in Manchester. His first craft-based dreamscapes were released by a couple of netlabels, and earlier this year his first physical album was released by Cathedral Transmissions. His new album entitled A Drop in the Ocean is out on Triple Moon (a label devoted to dronescapes, semi-classical and cinematic post-ambient music).
Loyal to his innovative, empirical approach and emotional line, Rath offers here seducing, impressionistic and soothing dream ambient atmospheres dominated by fuzzed-out/droned-out and distorted e-guitar sounds in a plaintive and deliciously evocative mood. The buzzing-entrancing noisy drone reverbs of the opening track are quite impressive and intense, reaching a sublime emotional state. “Promises” is a moody, melancholic and detached dronescape built on e-guitar resonances. “Encore” leads us to shoegazing dream pop bliss with some beautiful Fennesz-like guitar dreaminess. The closing track “Downstream” is a more blurry, nostalgic and primitive raw guitar soundscape with compelling harmonics and decaying micro-noises.
A Drop in the Ocean is an intimate, personal, organic noise ambient work with some heartwarming melodious post-rock reminiscences. It bears the quality of soft sonic ambient offered by luminary projects and artists such as Eluvium, Jasper TX, Aidan Baker and Stars of the Lid. It’s a touching, soundtrackesque, playful and emotionally restful album with a taste of homemade experimentation. Will appeal to anyone moved by dreamily expressive instrumental music.
A Drop in the Ocean is available digitally and in limited CD-R edition on Triple Moon.
