Living Moments eschews pretense in structure, favoring short tracks that transition in and out of different atmospheric visions by the bar.
Living Moments is the fifth release from UK-based Infinite Scale (aka Harmi Palda), whose work has been featured in radio and television, likely due to its delicately understated and evocative nature. Living Moments eschews pretense in structure, favoring short tracks that transition in and out of different atmospheric visions by the bar. It opens with two reverb-heavy piano tracks that emit a certain thoughtful melancholy, but are able to establish, using a variety of layered synths, a motif that would beautifully accompany any film’s hero as they, having made their monumental decision, wander out of the house onto a rain-speckled London street, and drive away into their slightly-uncertain future. See what I mean by evocative? That image projected itself onto the backs of my eyelids as I listened to the record the first time.
Infinite Scale wastes no time proving that there’s more to him than pretty pianos and delicate drones, however. With “Failure of an excuse,” we get a track making use of Tabla, heavy bass, and classic synths in a quick succession, standing in stark contrast to the opening of the record, though a thread of continuity is carried by the introduction of string drones that lay above and below the meat of the tune, layering exquisitely with the track as a whole.
Not content with shifting gears the once, Living Moments meanders back and forth across the spectrum of energy, taking listeners on a journey that utilizes everything from Tibetan meditation bowls to nylon-string guitars to what sounds like samples of rubber bands being plucked to weave a beautiful, unique tapestry that remains interesting and enjoyable throughout.
Ever present in the record is the underlying sense that Infinite Scale is intimately familiar with composition, as each track feels like a distinct musical piece, boasting melody and counterpoint that complement each other beautifully, while creatively embellishing with the expanded universe of sounds made available by synthesis and sampling. Comfortably straddling more “traditional” forms of music with abstract, atmospheric ambient, picking elements from both, Infinite Scale creates unique musical pieces that satisfy the aural palate tremendously.
An interesting feature of the album is the 30-seconds of silence placed at the end of “Almost an ending,” which divides the album in two, and is followed by sudden burst of strings in “Protect me” that carry an uplifting air with them, and also ends with roughly 30-seconds of silence. I’m not entirely sure what the intention of that silence is, and every time I’ve listened to the record, I’ve found myself checking to make sure that the music was still playing during the silent interludes, which return several times in the latter half of the record. All-in-all, Living Moments is a lovely record that will perfectly accompany a walk or drive, but it might go better with an overcast day, with light rain pattering the window as accompaniment, nestling between and behind the beautiful, rolling drones that fluctuate between voice, string, and synth seamlessly.
Living Moments is available on Bandcamp.
