Forgotten in the Woods Again by Forgotten in the Woods Again
Release date: October 27, 2017Label: Self-Released
If you like Mogwai and John Carpenter, you’re probably going to enjoy the self-titled debut EP of Forgotten in The Woods Again. The Ottawa-based, three-piece craft polished, engrossing electronica from simplistic arrangement and in the process exhibit a lot of potential for expansion.
Etymology is essential in the understanding of music; sometimes a track’s hidden meaning can astound the listener upon understanding, sometimes the title helps to shape the listener’s decoding of the track’s atmosphere. ’You Fucking Suck at Driving’ feels like looming cars stalking down dimly lit streets. It feels like discretion and abandon and criminal activity. It feels like a crash waiting to happen. A long passage of looped electronics, spooky beats and sinister piano reverb.
The sophomore track, ’Take the Memories but, Polish off the Rosy Stain’ sounds like two AI robots falling in love; built on a soft foundation of ambient pads and sedately electronic whispers, the piece is a liberal journey through dazzling electronica. At its expanse the track touches on more dramatic soundtrack cinematics using its bold, unwavering electronic drums to maintain a sense of pulse against grand, cataclysmic guitar work. The unravelling of the track is a satisfyingly slow and methodical experience, like rolling thunder.
The final track ’This is What Happens When People Have Ideas’ is somehow even more introspective than its predecessors; again built on ambience with delicate piano work, it transforms the album into a journey like looking out of the window of bus, growing deeper in thought as time passes by, taking up greater and greater residency in the brain as the journey goes on. The crescendo of the track, a surprise explosion of noise, feels as though it was built to for the entire album, its unwavering relentlessness brutalises the collection to a surprising conclusion.
This is a promising debut and a somewhat rare example of interesting post-rock in 2017. Its dark, brooding atmosphere contrasted with its kind-hearted centre makes for a pleasantly dichotomous listening experience.
