Opening is a fantastically constructed record that boasts a proud, consistent theme, smoothly transitioning between mellow ambient and a solid slow groove, all while remaining highly interesting, visual, and most-importantly, enjoyable.
Christopher Willits’ Opening on Ghostly International is a fantastic work of ambient expression, sprinkled with slow and groovy rhythmic activity, and melodies that remind of Tycho’s Awake (which Willits produced and mastered.) It is highly cinematic, evoking images of movement and flight, an open blue sky above as a changing landscape zooms by below. Ghostly’s repertoire is bolstered by Opening, which fits the auditory esthetic of the label perfectly. Willits appears humble in his composition, opting for serenity and simplicity rather than flourish. The result is a record that can easily accompany any activity, or gently drift with you to sleep, or wake you calmly in the morning. It is meditative and lightweight, but alive with intention. It is deliberate in its construction, and beautiful in its execution. The seven-track album moves through different energy levels smoothly, and in forty-five minutes, leaving you refreshed and relaxed, Opening is finished.
“Vision” opens the journey appropriately, with softly swelling noise and drones, voices ahhh-ing you into the open air and bright sky. Deep, quiet booms, rustling hi-hats, and almost invisible snare/white-noise scratches cascade along the lower end of the track, as at its heights hints of guitar playfully adorn the building scene of drone, voice, and wind. It is absolutely an introductory track, but lovely in its own way. As the track begins to close, the track begins to cohere to a single crescendo, which leads seamlessly into “Clear,” which carries the wide sonic visual through and morphs it slightly, bringing in some new synths and guitars which, when they find their place within the noise, open into a slow groove with excellent drums which have been treated with just the right amount of reverb to add to the etherial sensibility generated by “Vision” and the beginning of “Clear.”
With “Ground,” the album recedes again into a calmer state, never losing that backing drone replete with those subtle changes implemented upon it in “Clear,” reintroducing that choir of ahhh-ing spirits that accompanies the sounds so well. A quiet, almost tentative synth melody plays around during the entirety of the track, the sound of which is very reminiscent of Tycho’s music. Shakers and a deep drum bring up the latter third of the track, fading once more into that ever-present backing wave of noise, finally fading to a minimal hiss, then silently drifting into “NOW,” which continues lower-energetic swing of the record, building and slowly shifting between chords over a long time, with quiet leading tones that direct the chords without intruding too much into the wide body of the chords. Shakers slide back in, accompanied by a quietly rumbling bass line, slowly building into a more energetic theme, bringing the overall feel of the record back on an upswing. Enter a snare on the two, which after two bars leads into a slow drum groove, completing the upward energetic swing of the album just before it fades out to make way for “Connect.”
The theme of the album repeats at the opening of “Connect,” wide synth noise with a chorus of ahhhs, but this time it is accompanied by rhythmic elements before the arrival of any more Tycho-esque synths. It delivers its hints toward a slow-grooving tune, then pulls back completely, and reignites with a panned synth melody that becomes the main body of the new groove that kicks in, which pushes with a steady energy that is a welcome contrast—and equally enjoyable—to the mellower energy of the rest of the album. The groove gives way to a guitar interlude, supported by quiet shakers, before new synths join the melody to create an entirely new visual. This detour collides once more with the main groove of the tune, the themes perfectly intertwining and creating a new, full sound. Finally, the song closes with ahhhs, fading slightly before reappearing to begin the next piece on the record.
“Wide” is appropriately named, being constructed slowly, with wide sounds and a slowly developing timeline, until at about halfway through the tune, when a groove kicks in and brings those isolated, wide sounds into a connected context. While not as strong as “Connect,” it holds its own and serves to reduce the overall energy of the record, brought to its highest point during “Connect.” “Wide” closes with a polyrhythmic construct of synth melodies, blanketed with the familiar ahhhs and noise synths, before being abruptly closed off by a booming bass drum, and transitioning to “Release,” the final song on the record.
Opening with a completely different sound—flowing water and synths that build a coherent chord rather than the anticipated (and excellent) noise, “Release” is more meditative than any other track on the record. The swishing motion of water carries throughout the track as the synths sigh back and forth, accompanied by a guitar here, a leading synth there, generating an overall ambiance that might be best-suited to an accompaniment of a hot cup of tea on a cold morning, or maybe an acupuncture session, if, of course, you don’t have a convenient river to sit by as you listen to it.
Opening is a fantastically constructed record that boasts a proud, consistent theme, smoothly transitioning between mellow ambient and a solid slow groove, all while remaining highly interesting, visual, and most-importantly, enjoyable. San Francisco’s Christopher Willits’ first release since 2012 is a good one, and I’m sure I’m not alone in eagerly awaiting more from him.
Opening is available on Ghostly International. [Bandcamp]
http://vimeo.com/104163927
