By: “Chad
Tristan Welch | facebook | bandcamp | soundcloud |
Released on June 17, 2016 via Self-Released
DC is a two-track ambient post-rock EP written using guitar loops and pedals in a similar manner to Koyl or perhaps Stars of The Lid. D makes up the first side of the album, from the off-set it stands out as something delightfully meditative and somber. The slow crooning bass tones are evocative of Stars of The Lid adding grandeur to the track to elevate the tranquillising tones to the point where they have a mystic sense of the sublime and the ineffable inherent within them. As though some greater energy is existing between the notes.
The sedate chords bleed through the guitar in such somber introspection I can only imagine the sorrow, disillusionment and disassociation that went into making the track. Spaced out and hopeless, a sound reminiscent of prescription drug abuse, lost to valium and anything with drowsiness to help you sleep but, sleep won’t come. The last man on earth. The astronaut lost in space. A woman alone at night. Put on hold and forced to watch as the world violently exists in constant flux. A piece capturing fear and isolation and sedation as well as powerlessness, hopelessness and loss. The D is for Despair. The result is fucking amazing. Every layer is stunningly well produced, every texture expertly apt, every direction in the song taking us further down the well back to the source filling the blanks, smoothing over the cracks, thickening the plot.
On the C side, the weariness of the previous track slowly transmogrifies itself into a dazed euphoria. The weight drifts out of the track with the low end and the trilling guitar lines become evocative of feathers fluttering in the wind. Where the previous track creates a sense of being overwhelmed and out of control, the second track has an underlying serenity, a sort of downtrodden acceptance like gritting your teeth and spurring on. Once again similar to Stars of The Lid and perhaps Brian Eno, the track maintains a mellowing ambient introspection but always seems to be hinting towards a potential threat somewhere in the distance.
This is an excellent ambient post-rock release that can help resurrect your brain dead mind with some healthy contemplation and additionally, will nicely introduce you to a seemingly excellent artist in a bitesized chunklet.
