Nyles Lannon grew up listening to his father’s
early seventies Herbie Hancock and Weather Report records,
which go him interested in a variety of musical genres.
His first excursions into the music world were as a
guitarist and singer, most prominently with indie rock
band Film School. Astronomy For Children, his
first purely electronic record, demonstrates an impressive
maturity when it comes to atmospheres and complex sonic
constructions. If his music could lousily be associated
with that of Boards Of Canada,
Isan and Christ,
this album is nevertheless an extremely personal journey
through glitches, moderate abstraction and dreamy soundscapes.
The title of this record very much sums up its content.
Dealing with complex sonic landscapes and constructions,
Lannon manages to extract the essence of his music,
highlighting the melodic essence of his compositions
to make them appear deceivingly simple and easy, most
definitely a manifestation of his past incarnation as
an acoustic singer/songwriter. This Morning,
which opens the album, illustrates this perfectly. Taking
a gentle (human?) hum and leaving it to develop over
a syncopated beat while multiple secondary lines wax
and wane around it, Lannon then injects a myriad of
details in the background. Yet, the song has a superb
simplicity to it that grabs the ear and refuses to let
go.
The general mood of this record is laidback and down
tempo, but Lannon doesn’t shy away from occasionally
beefing up his compositions, as on the bleepy Spoke
Words, definitely one of the highlights here. Elsewhere,
as on That Spun My Head or Thoughts,
he assembles moody chimeric sonic constructions on which
light and clouds form ever-changing intricate patterns
on the rhythmic ground, while ominous waves of textures
provide one of the most organic and disturbing moments
of the album.
For his first incursion in electronic territories, Nyles
Lannon offers a very mature and controlled piece of
work, where delicate touches bring these compositions
to life instantaneously. Despite its complex settings,
Astonomy For Children is incredibly catchy
and is bound to capture the imagination of the most
demanding of audiences. A truly accomplished piece of
recording.
4.5/5 |
