Following on from his 2015 release of Where All Is Fled, electronic musician and composer Steve Hauschildt offers his latest body of work Strands. Delving deep into a meditative and hypnotic notion of electronic music, Hauschildt creates an enigmatic world where sounds naturally come to life before decaying once again. Despite being firmly rooted in electronic ambient music, there’s almost a naturalistic quality to much of what Hauschildt presents. As the album progresses, there’s a shifting quality to everything, which slowly morphs in shape and size, growing and shrinking in equal measure in the creation of something greater.
Whilst Where All Is Fled showed a strong understanding of space-age electronic ambiance, we see here on Strands Hauschildt really defining his artistic statements, making a work of art that is personal, yet not to the point of being inaccessible. Drawing influence from his own home town, and specific rivers that run through, we see how Hauschildt applies the rules of the natural work to his own electronic work, creating music that slowly blossoms to life and moves with the grace and fluidity of what influenced it in the first place. As well as this almost naturalistic element to the music, Hauschildt also seems to apply a futuristic vision to it all, making a work that settles between both worlds and times.
It seems Hauschildt has created one of his strongest album experiences to date. Many of the strengths of his previous works have been further developed into something that truly translates the ideas and concepts Hauschildt is trying to present in the first place. The core concept of life and decay gives context to the music itself, resulting in an album experience that at times feels incredibly dark and harrowing, and yet under the surface of decaying sounds is a glimmer of optimism, like something struggling to blossom forth underneath the many layers.
Strands sees an already talented musician really further pushing himself in the creation of something truly grand. Whilst there were many strong elements to some of Hauschildt’s previous albums, it seems there’s less weak moments on Strands, which instead presents a cohesive and understandable vision naturally and effortlessly. This is perhaps one of the strongest albums to come from Hauschildt thus far, and is certainly an exciting indicator of what could potentially come from the musician in the future, in terms of concepts and how they can be presented through creative notions.
