Like a helium balloon on a string tied to a plastic weight that is just barely heavy enough to keep itself dancing along the surface of the earth, ambient architects Maxwell August Croy and James Devane create music that exists in a place balanced between a skyward pull of weightlessness and the organic force of gravity. Recording under the name En, Croy and Devane have released their second album entitled Already Gone on Students of Decay, and it is even richer and more emotional than their stellar 2010 release The Absent Coast.
By integrating a broad range of familiar instrumentation, including bass guitars and violins, into a groundwork formed by wispy, dreamy synths, En retains earthbound comforts while stretching for the clouds and the stars. The outstanding 19-minute finale “Elysia” is the cutting of the weight from the balloon and watching it disappear as it rises, determined to reach the blue until it implodes or disintegrates in the stratosphere, or lands in somebody’s backyard in China.
The record is distributed by Experimedia, where you can buy it and also stream the entire thing.
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• En: http://biezumd.com
• Students of Decay: http://studentsofdecay.com/blog
• Experimedia: http://sod.experimedia.net/096