A Winged Victory For The Sullen
Released April 28th, 2014 through
There’s plenty of beautiful music to go around these days and a new gem is coming from the project A Winged Victory for the Sullen.
A Winged Victory for the Sullen is the melting pot between Adam Wiltzie, well known for his ambient work with Stars of the Lid, and Dustin O'Halloran, a Berlin-based pianist and composer and also member of the dream pop band Devics. Although they have a different style, each artist manages to shine and to craft something that is exactly in between the droning music of Wiltzie and the melancholic piano music of O'Halloran. They met on May 24th 2007, in Bologna, Italy, when Adam was touring and playing with the late Mark Linkous & Sparklehorse, through a common friend. Their curious friendship - characterized also by the shared love of italian gastronomy, and general italian handmade products - started that night and keeps on delighting us with great music.
I read somewhere that the band name comes from the Greek statue in the Louvre called "Winged Victory of Samothrace," representing Nike, the winged goddess of victory, found on the Greek island of Samothrace. The association between the divine triumphant figure and the duo project brings the idea of something active and powerful, refined and solid, as the A Winged Victory's music is.
Being a fan of both the two respected composers I was really excited when in 2011 they released their self titled record that is a thoroughly wonderful full-length LP with that gem titles 'Steep Hills Of Vicodin Tears'. The label Erased Tapes will release the project's second full-length, Atomos, somewhere this year but, from next April 28th, we can enjoy Atomos VII , an EP that features the title track along with an outtake from the recording sessions for A Winged Victory for the Sullen's first album, as well as a collaborative track with the pianist Ben Frost.
A Winged Victory for the Sullen is one of those collaborations that really illuminate. Both artists bring their own style to the project and both of them, in the same time, sacrifices something.
The three tracks of Atomos VII conquer with their simplicity and repetition that take the center stage and slowly captivate, delight and enchant. The opening track 'Atomos VII' anticipates an album of depth and complexity; it's a beautifully composed track with brilliant percussions. Especially in the second part of the song those percussions give to the composition a the depth that only talented musicians can realize.
You'll meet again the melancholic and gorgeous piano music of the synesthete O'Halloran with the following 'Minuet For A Cheap Piano Number One' that will speak directly to your heart. The minimal melody takes on a hypnotic quality making me wonder if it’s a desired audio effect or if my mind is playing tricks on me. It's simple and extremely beautiful.
A particular darkness with a vein of tension open the closing 'Atomos VII (A Greenhouse Re-Interpretation)' where the notes of Atomos VII echo and reverb in detuned shadows of themselves. The overall effect is like listening a song from an old radio with a series of interferences and you can hear different sounds according to the the notes you focus on. Half away the track the sound seems almost disappear and the only noises center the stage. Careful listeners will hear the minimal sound emerging from the abyss and shimmering as the the best aura.
A Winged Victory creates all these otherworldly sounds using only traditional instruments.
Atomos VII is the prelude of an album of depth and complexity with a subtle sense of pacing and space. This should be something we can all cherish.
