Like Blade Runner directed by Ridley Scott, bvdub’s Leaving alludes to the end of a person’s life. The music uses a dark-ambient approach to bring the listener to this point in the present.
A somber yet incredibly engaging release
I had a nice time listening to the deep, emotional ambient tracks in bvdub’s Leaving. The female vocals on “Blinded Years” are lovely and have an ethereal flair, while the song pulses along in a reverberant and passionate way. The tone is chill, yet feelings are intense. This (and the adjacent tracks) present a time to heal from the workaday world, but had aspects of experiencing the final years of a person’s life. The same lovely female voice plays a role in “Last Words.” Dub progressions scroll by in this drifty goth-infused piece. Pad melodies are punctuated by ethereal snare sounds. The swirling, dark and hypnotic music hearkens back to trip-hop sounds from the nineties.
Dark shimmering music appears, as well, in “Leaving You.” The pulse is faster, with mid to up tempo industrial-style drums. The song features elegant string pad work. In terms of vibe, the 80s are more present here than the 90s, with a mellow facsimile of music by, for example, Tears For Fears. In “Kingdom Come,” an ambient drift presence emerges, and gradually builds. Huge orchestral hits keep a steady pace. The track is grand, even majestic—with a hint, too, of inevitability. There is a sense that a narrative is moving towards its conclusion.
Like Blade Runner directed by Ridley Scott, bvdub’s Leaving alludes to the end of a person’s life. The music uses a dark-ambient approach to bring the listener to this point in the present. The songs blend together organically to create a somber yet incredibly engaging release as a whole.
Leaving is available on Bandcamp.
