Resuming their
Inventions
project five years after an initial mid-2010s flurry of releases,
Eluvium
's
Matthew Cooper
and
Explosions in the Sky
Mark T. Smith
produced an almost alarmingly joyful third full-length. It's safe to say that neither musician's main act would open one of their albums with the sound of laughter followed by bright, pinwheel-like rotating synth sequences. The 37 minutes that follow are filled with an array of curious, off-beat samples, gentle instrumentation, and calmly lapping beats. There's a charming looseness to the album; while never abrasive, the samples sometimes clash with each other a bit, and it all has the feeling of a cut-and-paste collage, sounding far less refined than
or
Explosions
' dramatic, labored-over epics. They seem to pull inspiration out of thin air on tracks like "Calico," which opens with a barely attached acoustic strumming loop and adds more linear kick drums and atmospheric guitars, later joined by a ghostly choral sample. An occasional dynamic shift adds a dose of emotional heft while maintaining the track's adventurous spirit. "Continuous Portrait" has some murmuring and reassuring crooning by humans, but the lead vocalist seems to be the owl hooting throughout the song, with the backup being the other birds chirping in the background of the sample. "Outlook for the Future" shuffles in with a relaxed rhythm not too far off from
Can
's "Future Days," outfitted with flutes, organs, and pianos. A snippet of an interview with someone hoping to live a long, prosperous life is half-buried within the pleasant stew of samples. On much of the release, the layered samples feel somewhat jumbled together, and the presence of a voice proclaiming, "I just don't know what I'm supposed to be" during "Spirit Refinement Exploder" only adds to the sense of confusion and uncertainty. Despite this, hope and optimism persist, and the album is a poignant, playful collection of future memories. ~ Paul Simpson