(A personal review from John Dombroskij to Simon Whetham, published with John’s kind permission)
I listened to your album – Never So Alone – a lot. And it is, of course, brilliant. I feel the energy you put into it – And I’m beginning to empathize with what might have been behind your title choices and intuitive sonic decisions. I told you I would give a review of it, so here it is: track, by track (sort of)… if you’d like to read… (I apologize in advance if it’s too much)…
I really like the delicate mid-high frequency rattling / scraping in back of my head during the first half of the first track – this amplifies the mood and tension suggested by the tones and the repetitive low undulating tone. Second half, is like an airplane taking off in slow motion under water – the consuming weight of progress – steady, enveloping, force, as speed and intensity increase. and the emptiness,
I’ve found that I enjoy listening to your music (and most music) in public places, or with the window open. The connection and intermixing of the ephemeral and the recorded sounds provide me the ability to directly apply the feeling of the music to my experience of life at that moment, and I’m no longer just listening but – feeling – it.
Track 2: this metallic lo-mid freq sound is really fucking awesome. after a bit, it becomes almost a little too heavy on those mid frequencies, but you fade it away at just the right time, and give us a bit of bass. and I love the light tin sounds. The stereo out-of-phase effect is really nice (when the metallic tones vibrato in and out of sync). The harmonic changes in the lead sound vaguely remind me of Colin Stetson’s work. — gosh, those heavy-reverb distant wind chimes are so nice right there at the end.
This first interlude – wind chimes of the gods – or demons – it all feels like a stormy rainy night where shadows move and nothing seems quite real, or too real, and I wonder when I’ll wake. Dynamics, man – thanks for making use of ’em. quiet / loud… That’s a crazy escalator, too (escalator, or baggage-claim)… I found a similar sound in the airport in Atlanta, Georgia.
What a beautiful rhythm, now… rain on aluminum. and as the tones return, and the high frequency tapping enters, I feel like you’re leading me elsewhere, yet, it’s a very similar headspace. lots of dwelling on these difficult places – frustration, too.
The music has a somewhat narrative quality, which I like – I might venture to assert that it seems almost autobiographical, like an abstract-impressionist painting of a time, place, mood.
I love the timbre of this radio static…or is it rain on an umbrella, yes…? beautiful.
and your spacing, the silence in between each movement/piece, is well done. time to breathe is very important. I feel as if I might be sick, or overwhelmed if you kept on from one to the next to the next, so fast… right amount of spacing, definitely.
mmm… this lo frequency is so nice, and when it starts wobbling left to right and back… love it. those small, quiet sounds really help me submerge myself in the sub tones – give me something to focus on as the overwhelming bass envelops and moves through me… someday, I will listen to this in a big, quiet, room, with great speaker monitors… yes, that needs to happen. would you be willing to reveal how you went about making this low frequency? I always wonder how such sounds originate – they are so nice – and this one, the way it undulates is brilliant – soothing. after the last bit, atonal, the resurgence of a melodic / tonal chime sound is very refreshing, along with the metallic scraping.
I’m not too crazy about the chorus-effected tones when the cello is playing in background in track 5, though with a title like “A Little Faith” the timbre of the tones evokes images of light shining through, a post-apocalyptic, morose, hopeful, pleading, searching, feeling.
OH damn you! Certainly woke me up with the start of this interlude recording… but in a good way. yeah! cold water and wind – we’re in it for the long haul, buckle down and full sail ahead! I really love this piece. the moment is brief, and so great. it’s so intense – reminds me of previews I’ve seen for this documentary called “LEVIATHAN”. And then we move into the murky depths… I feel like a lot of this album has to do with water – change – tumultuous change, at that. Like you mentioned earlier – just throwing yourself into the sea and not knowing where you’ll come out. wow – a car horn sounded briefly outside, right when the audial swell of track 6 ended – the beautiful synchronicity!
I love this wash of revolving tonal sound that comes in the beginning of “Accentuate…” – Like that moment after you’ve hit your head, hard, and you’re swimming for a moment, dazed.
You have nice timing with the lower frequency swells, this makes the higher frequencies consuming, but not overwhelming. I like the chord changes too. ah, yes, underwater in the small ebb of waves… what a nice place to take us after all that heavy stuff. I really like the mastering on this recording – the low bassy resonation of the baot, and the high freq elements in the water turbulence… and a well-timed slow decrescendo to the end. well done, Simon. I feel great after listening. Thank You.