Endlessness

I loved Nala Sinephro’s debut album Space 1.8 (and wrote a little about it on my previous blog), so I was very much looking forward to hearing its follow-up: Endlessness. My CD copy, pre-ordered from Bandcamp, arrived in the post the day before last. I’ve properly listened to it only once so far, hence, while it delighted me, I can’t provide much more than some initial impressions of it.

One immediately feels in a similar sound-world as conjured up by Space 1.8, albeit with some additional elements. Foremost of those is the presence of a string section, which, when called upon, provides extra light & shade, foreground highlights & background textures. The ten tracks (titled ‘Continuum 1’ to ‘Continuum 10’) all apparently revolve around the same repeated arpeggio, presented in various guises as the album progresses, providing a connecting thread to the record as a whole.

Some of the supporting musicians (such as Nubya Garcia & James Mollison) also lent contributions to the first album; while others (e.g. Sheila Maurice-Grey & Morgan Simpson) are new faces. All have combined their efforts to make music that speaks softly but seriously, and in a manner that compels attention. Their playing variously complements and counteracts the orderly progression of the synthesizer parts. There are a some moments when what I perceive as voice-like sounds (which could be actual voices or synthesized approximations) float just under the surface of the mix to highly intriguing effect.

It’s soft-edged, but not merely soothing; coherent without being unduly repetitive; and, in a word, fascinating. I’ll be getting to know it much better!