Dissolved finds a sonic tapestry of his own; floating somewhere in the cover artworks’ shallow sea, tranquility and solace surrounds Island Flux. A precious gem.
Drenched melodic starbursts
Dissolved (aka Paul Daniels) took a bit of a hiatus; one of our favorites when it comes to sun-soaked ambient IDM morsels buried in nostalgic dreamscapes from the upper layers of the atmosphere. Perhaps breathing time was necessary, essential even, to create such vast and surreal soundtracks. Taken as a whole, Island Flux (the title comes from a photograph the Vancouver-based, Scottish electronic musician from Glasgow found of an unidentified island with a shallow sea leading up to it) can, and probably should, be absorbed as a whole. These magnetic rhythms and fleeting pitter-patter beats, sometimes even BoC/FSOL-influenced with their cerebral and often kaleidoscope synths, tend to meander and migrate into strangely alluring audible segments.
Hundreds upon hundreds of drenched melodic starbursts feel distant and vintage, tending to remain engulfed in ambient streams. At times simply swirling, and at other times looping into and out of focus. Highlights take shape in many forms as Dissolved uses watercolor layers to submerge his listeners in a dozen fantastical pieces that once again elevate the artist’s signature soundscapes and escapes. With glitch infusions, ambient protrusions, and IDM extrusions, Dissolved finds a sonic tapestry of his own; floating somewhere in the cover artworks’ shallow sea, tranquility and solace surrounds Island Flux. A precious gem.
Island Flux is available on Bandcamp.
