(06.16.06) Keith Kenniff has accumulated much critical acclaim both for his superlative ambient debut album Unomia released through Merck, and for the soulful, folky, acoustic Corduroy Road album recorded under the name Goldmund for the UK based Type label. Eingya, his second full length release as Helios, sees him returning to Type with typically effortless panache to present a work that successfully fuses the distinct styles of his two previous albums. The pastoral acoustic guitar and piano elements that form the core of Corduroy Road are very much in evidence, but are infused with the restrained and unusual beats, field recordings and dense atmospheric techniques that made Unomia such an ambient masterpiece.
Though it can initially be rather difficult to cleave one track from another – unusual given that Eingya does not employ the technique of connecting its tracks together – repeated listens reveal the subtleties and personalities of each track a layer at at time. Some pieces are more immediate than others; “Paper Tiger,” for example, is an album highlight and probably one of the most anthemic and memorable Helios works yet released, thanks in no small part to its folk-pop leanings and flawlessly constructed melodies. “Vargtimme” recalls Unomia more than any other track on Eingya, a faded and scorched melodic drone piece very similar to the former album’s simultaneously powerful, calm and introspective intermissions that helped make it so memorable. “Vargtimme” inexorably shifts the mood, even if only temporarily, from a kind of carefree daydream to one of melancholy nostalgia. That Kenniff can create something so heart wrenching from something so apparently simple is further testament to the passion and emotion that goes into every one of his works.
The majority of Eingya‘s third act is particularly arresting, recalling in texture and mood the work of Boards of Canada at their very zenith. “First Dream Called Ocean” is exactly the kind of hazy, sun-drenched melancholia that made Boards of Canada the benchmar kreference that they are today, whilst the setting sun that pours layers of amber over “The Toy Garden” is pure, cine-film filtered nostalgia. The dusky “Sons of Light and Darkness” basks in the residual warmth of a summer’s evening as gossamer synths and bass-tones arc through, echoing piano and diaphanous acoustic guitar crooning. Perhaps the only stumbling block is the inclusion of the rather clunky “Coast Off.” The piano work comes across as stuffy and formal, the guitar work is rather blurry and uninteresting and the African chanting and cut-up vocals that feature in the latter half of the piece are jarringly out of place amidst the other, more tranquil pieces included here.
One of Kenniff’s great gifts is the intimate style and easy familiarity of his piano and guitar playing, as if he were performing for you personally, right there in the room. Particularly evident on his Corduroy Road album, this feeling is heightened here, the addition of Eingya‘s field recordings and ambient flourishes lending an atmospheric sense of place and an evocative visual dimension to the performance.
A new and distinct chapter in the Helios saga, Eingya is a fervent and nostalgic confluence of Kenniff’s two distinct styles and yet another essential release from the Type label. Buy it at Amazon.com
Eingya is out now on Type.
