Haunting, pastoral and evocative music from a unique artist, Dextro has the power to paint very beautiful landscapes and to transport the listener to a higher state of consciousness, evoking a natural sense of wonder with his contemplative, beautifully organic sounds.
Scottish electronic producer Ewan Mackenzie returns to 16k Records under his Dextro moniker to present In The Crossing, his new full length release. Ten years has passed from his first album Consequence Music also on 16K label, and we should go back even to 2004 to see the Glasgow based artist making his debut on James Holden critically acclaimed imprint, Border Community. These early works were often compared to the countrymen Boards of Canada, recalling geographical aspects and that sense of melancholy and bucolic life of In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country (Warp, 2000).
The sonic palette has not varied so much in the years, as we witness again a mixture of live instrumentation and electronics to pack an hybrid gift/gem that stands between post-rock, psychedelia, ambient and electronica. There’s a strong feel of emotional narrative that spreads across the entire record, and we could consider our listening like an imaginary journey, from its beginning till the end.
“Evacuate” starts off the travel with a solid rhythm section: a nervous drum beat adorned with a synth melody that together create a sense of meditative movement, while the following “Amor Fati,” as the perfectly-chosen title suggests, drags the listener into unknown territories over its six minutes, although it still emerges a familiar warmth under delicate notes of piano and acoustic guitar. Then the journey goes on with “Break Off” with a steady organic beat running like a beautiful ride into a wild landscape, and then, in the second half of the album, more abstract and atmospheric passages alternates warmly until the closing “Occupy,” that sees a scarn and intimate acoustic guitar loop slowly evolving into a richer harmonic crescendo, to gain a high level of pathos, with a cinematic quality.
Haunting, pastoral and evocative music from a unique artist, Dextro has the power to paint very beautiful landscapes and to transport the listener to a higher state of consciousness, evoking a natural sense of wonder with his contemplative, beautifully organic sounds. Highly recommended.
In The Crossing is available on 16k.
