ambient / drone
Back in January I published a review for '7' by American ambient act Interface Type Seven (read). Back then it was winter. The streets and parks were covered with a thin layer of snow. I wrote "This is a perfect album for these cold winter evenings" and I mentioned a burning fireplace.
Today a heatwave is crushing Europe. A huge part of the continent now IS a burning fireplace. The sun is blistering. It hasn't rained in days, weeks even. So I was wondering if another dose of IT7 ambient would cool me off. In short: it didn't, but that doesn't say anything about the quality of this new album.
As per usual, Interface Type Seven explores the regions of "slowism", somewhere between ambient, classical music, downtempo electronics and post rock. This time, the focus seems to lay on dramatic piano, nicely illustrated by opener 'Imminent'. Carefully, IT7 steps into the footsteps of Olafur Arnalds. The Boards Of Canada references from his previous album slowly disappear as title track 'Nonlinear' takes the piano towards something more playful.
Yet, not to worry, fans of lingering drones and meandering soundscapes have plenty to look forward to. 'Aberrations' delivers those goodies in an immersive manner. 'Silence' attempts something similar, but on a church organ, so it seems. 'Fault' then drags us into the dark and mysterious shamanistic drones of ritual dark ambient. Talking about a varied album. The latter is probably my favorite track here, and comes highly recommended for droners of all ages.
So it seems that the album gradually descends into darkness. 'Labyrinthine' might sound like a friendly and somewhat rhythmic ambient tune at first but there is something impending, something useasy about it. In the end, the music nudges towards dungeon synth before 'Static' pushes the listener into ever droning quicksand. Perhaps it is cool enough down there. Nonetheless, 'Nonlinear' definitely is a varied and vivacious follow up to '7', one which comes highly recommended.
Serge
Today a heatwave is crushing Europe. A huge part of the continent now IS a burning fireplace. The sun is blistering. It hasn't rained in days, weeks even. So I was wondering if another dose of IT7 ambient would cool me off. In short: it didn't, but that doesn't say anything about the quality of this new album.
As per usual, Interface Type Seven explores the regions of "slowism", somewhere between ambient, classical music, downtempo electronics and post rock. This time, the focus seems to lay on dramatic piano, nicely illustrated by opener 'Imminent'. Carefully, IT7 steps into the footsteps of Olafur Arnalds. The Boards Of Canada references from his previous album slowly disappear as title track 'Nonlinear' takes the piano towards something more playful.
Yet, not to worry, fans of lingering drones and meandering soundscapes have plenty to look forward to. 'Aberrations' delivers those goodies in an immersive manner. 'Silence' attempts something similar, but on a church organ, so it seems. 'Fault' then drags us into the dark and mysterious shamanistic drones of ritual dark ambient. Talking about a varied album. The latter is probably my favorite track here, and comes highly recommended for droners of all ages.
So it seems that the album gradually descends into darkness. 'Labyrinthine' might sound like a friendly and somewhat rhythmic ambient tune at first but there is something impending, something useasy about it. In the end, the music nudges towards dungeon synth before 'Static' pushes the listener into ever droning quicksand. Perhaps it is cool enough down there. Nonetheless, 'Nonlinear' definitely is a varied and vivacious follow up to '7', one which comes highly recommended.
Serge
