PyramidAeon's first full release, the self titled album, unleashed back in September is a winning combination of effective simplicity, catchy hooks, solid grooves and a generous serving of atmosphere. While Aeon has chosen to incorporate a few moves from modern EDM, he pulls it off smoothly, with side-chained head boppers 'We Are The Sun' and 'A World Of Our Own' coming across more like Kalax's earlier work, than the floor-shaking club anthems that the technique usually finds a home in.
More than anything though, Aeon's work is nothing short of dreamy on the ears, and again, to reference Kalax, weaves and moves in and out of itself effortlessly with minimalist, tidy production that is both tasteful and timeless. Tracks like 'Revival' kick it with some arctic-cool melodies, that wouldn't go amiss in the late 90s post-Sega era, with artists in the vein of PPK. This self-titled release is a strong debut, setting up a solid, trademark sound for the producer. The next release is guaranteed to be even better. Everything from the production to the technique, to the style of the album seems to progress in a linear fashion, almost like a 7 track crescendo.
The textures of the album tend to stay within very familiar territory with one another, and fans of synthwave will feel right at home here. Aeon pushes in a few different directions. Making nods to the rise of video game music, and to trance/dance, but it's all tied in nicely with the core group of sounds that feel right at home in the synthwave domain. While some will argue Aeon is playing it safe with his debut, it's more apparent that he ticks every box, hits every note, and does it with precision and style, taking the foundations of the genre and reminding us how fresh and cool they can sound. And again, 'cool' is a word that keeps coming to mind. You can't deny that this album is really, really cool.
Tracks like 'Reflection' break from the mould, with more airy and organic sounds like choirs, flowing freely across pumping basses and solid kicks, with edgy synth stabs leading the melodies, but again, it's right at home in the world of PyramidAeon. These subtle switches in instrumentation create massive shifts in ambience, as each track takes us somewhere different. A sunset beach here, a black highway at night there. Some hints of Robert Miles's breakout tracks like 'Children' and 'Fable' from the mid-90s start to appear toward the end. Whether intentional or not, these are all great moments.
'All Alone' stands out of the crowd as the most off beat track. Plinky robot synths almost flutter around at random, creating interesting melodies and catchy hooks on the fly, and working with Aeon's palette to make great points of interest, as the moods move between happy, sad and melancholic without any warning. It's a great little curve ball toward the end of the album that adds variety.
The release is sadly a little too short, as Aeon has created something wonderful, and it's a shame for it to end so soon. The next album can't come soon enough.
PyramidAeon's presents his self titled album on his Bandcamp page here and is available at a name-your-price point. Sadly there's no physical releases available, as this would sound incredible on cassette.
This great record comes highly recommended from Synthetix.FM, stick this bad boy on while you're driving and you may have a new favourite album for Autumn.
No comments:
Post a Comment