Thee-O uses quite a varied electronic production style over the range of tracks on Adrift; from fully ambient, downtempo and minimal, to hip hop, IDM, glitch and dance: making each track fairly diverse and allowing for unexpected musical excursions.
[Purchase | Listen] With 10 years of ambient releases under the Reef Project title, Jacob Ofilas (Thee-O)’s latest effort Adrift on System Recordings is a well-balanced and laid-back electronic album with high production quality. These 11 tracks present warm and spacious soundscapes that evolve with a wide palette of analog symphonics in an ebb and flow manner, to carry and let go of the listener, at times almost unexpectedly, into realms of thick and full, (and at times percussively heavy) sonic textures. “Waiting for the Siren” provides a good representation of this “drifting” or gradual progression, where many different musical figures are interspersed within and with time develop into complete and coherent phrases/ideas. At 3/5ths of the way through, the listener is met by the drop, which conveys a dynamic, yet uplifting harmony and drums that completes the composition. “Basking Shark,” conveys a very good mix of the electronic elements (synthetic drumming and leads) with acoustic mallets, chants and a sound bite quoting eastern philosophy and spirituality. These elements all mix together well to achieve an even, yet atmospheric glitch-hop track.
Thee-O uses quite a varied electronic production style over the range of tracks on Adrift; from fully ambient, downtempo and minimal, to hip hop, IDM, glitch and dance: making each track fairly diverse and allowing for unexpected musical excursions. “The Return” demonstrates a more aggressive track anchored by a beat with a deep bass kick. “Deserted Island” contains a very dark and vacuous tone which is occasionally colored by biosonar communication from marine mammals interspersed amongst high electronic frequencies. Different from the other works, yet this track integrates well in defining the Reef Project sound. Title track “Adrift” and “Siren’s Call,” present two soulful trip hop endeavors, featuring production and vocals by Los Angeles’ Erin Powers.
For rhythmic enthusiasts, the dominant beat work, as well as the glitch infused and synthetic drums on “Yellow Tang,” “Basking Shark,” “Spotted Ray, and “Psychedelic Mandarin” are go to tracks. Overall however, Adrift is fairly straight forward in terms of percussion. Rhythmically, it is the attention devoted to the drum synthesis (crisp snaps and rolling kicks) that really allows for a smooth feel throughout and the change-ups from acoustic to electronic do work for a cohesive flow between verses (and in transition to the bridge in “Psychedelic Mandarin.”)
Overall, Adrift really carries its own chillout sound, which in Jacob Ofilas’ own description is music inspired by aquariums, aquatic ecosystems and seascapes. This blue sound is really more classical electronica in essence; yet standouts due to its tight and polished compositions, as well as how expressive each track is. Specifically, Thee-O’s construction of the overall mood due to a heavy use of synthesizers is a principle highlight of this album. The background ambience can move slowly at times, yet is continuously evolving and stays away from becoming dull. It’s welcoming to hear an album which is centered in and pushes a full and well designed analog sound amidst the gargantuan digital music revolution.
Adrift is out now on System. [Purchase | Listen]
