Morpheus Music & The Mall Magazine
MUSIC
Smooth, synthetic ambient zones. This is an album of immersive atmopheres without beat or melody, designed to set the listener adrift. Welling up like waves on the shore, washes of tone arise and roll one over another in constant succession – some deep and sonorous, some light, thin, others full of sonic detritus caught in the tide – percussive rattles like churning pebbles. Ever-receeding surges of sound drain back into the next wave. As the album pulls away from the shoreline the electronic ocean becomes dark and obscure in places, floating forms drifting by, heavy masses of tone heaving and pulling. Tracks blend one into another, the only indication of a progression usually being a lessening of intensity, a lightness as if surfacing momentarily. New tracks subtly intorduce fresh voices into the mix and some shifts of scale.
ARTWORK
Liquid ripples and solarised reflections fill two panels of the cover booklet in rich blues, turquoises, terracotta hues and dark shadows. The title text sitting in a heavy border of shadow near the base. On the reverse an ambiguous out of focus photo-image works as backdrop for the titles and an explanation of the project. Within we find a gear list, recording details and credits, some special thanks and contact information – this is presented on a white background with an accompanying monochrome reflection image.
OVERALL
For his third album, Max Corbacho presents four longform pieces ranging from just over six minutes to thirty eight minutes fifteen seconds. Designed for continuous playback – the tone is generally a serious one drifting somewhere in between warmth and cold. The concept behind the music is that of the «earth call» – what Max describes as «that feeling pulling us away from the cities to seek contact with the rock, the earth and water …». A strong sense of space with something of the viscosity of liquid pervades this album – the listener is able to feel suspended in sound, surrounded in all directions, afloat, immersed