Overall, Through the Lines‘ gradual exposure is like the uncovering of prized treasures at a shrine. Its spiritual edge certainly brings to the fore those awakening sounds that could encourage the petals of a precious flower to open up fully.
[Release page] Little is known about them, only that Through the Lines was originally recorded as a live performance for the CMKY Black Box event in Colorado and is now available as a 4-track album. It’s intensely spacious without losing its sense of direction; a structural template devised from utilization of a smooth texture landscape and a surprisingly lengthily musical narrative. All provide a sound track to darkening shadows that disperse into warmer hues, depending on which part of the track you listen to.
Immediately, a relaxing escape arrives in intense washes of hue and lightened artifacts in “Bleeds Dynamic.” Gentle vocal textures that exhibit a will to haunt and penetrate deep, yet with the airiness of ghostly mists—a swirling gentle texture that becomes caught in its own ambient sideline of lavish mystery and poetic excellence. It shifts gently in order to explore, and allows its sharpest edges to carve their way through dense caves—making way for the quieter calms, gentle chimes and bursts of light. The chilly vocal sample is simple, yet prevails to touch the soul. A coaxing of gentle enigmatic escape emerges with title track “Through the Lines.” Clocking in at just over nine minutes, it’s a lengthy soundtrack that presents a subdued introduction before the pulses of its heart reveal themselves—mapping out gentle rhythms, which form an essential framework throughout. Midway, subtle drama is evident—eventually taking the track off into the distance.
Throughout this short adventure lies pretty much a similar storyline in the music and experimentation—the greater parts all hailing from the same empty planet. It’s a location where soundscapes erupt into activity, before settling back into calm. The contrasts are like the seasons—cinematic expanses that engage all senses while having the capacity to infuse a tense drama without warning all accompanied by fine tinges of Eastern magic.
“Flux and Go” relies upon more percussive persuasion, however. Think moving metals on hot surfaces and a slight wash of vocal sample that could easily echo from surrounding empty sand dunes. The percussion builds in strength, as do exotic placements of wind instrumentation adding yet more definition. Finally, “Down the Fist” starts with what sounds like distant bombs being dropped from the skies. They pass quickly, leaving the track to hang on an eerie interplay of just two notes that edge cautiously around a subdued rhythm, occasional bursts of sparkle, but always resolving back to more sinister suggestions.
Overall, the album’s gradual exposure is like the uncovering of prized treasures at a shrine. Its spiritual edge certainly brings to the fore those awakening sounds that could encourage the petals of a precious flower to open up fully.
Through The Lines is available on SEM. [Release page]
