The Village Orchestra is the solo escapade of Scottish
musician Ruaridh Law, who also officiates as one third
of Glasgow-based electronic outfit The Marcia Blaine
School For Girls, who are currently being tipped as
one of the hottest electronic acts around.
Conceived as a project to channel some of Law’s
extra curricular activities, The Village Orchestra offers
on this first release a truly infectious vision of contemporary
electronica. Published on the ever-excellent Highpoint
Lowlife imprint, this debut album explores a variety
of sonic landscapes over its nine tracks and fifty-eight
minutes. Drawing its title from a famous painting by
renaissance artist Nicolas Poussin, Et In Arcadia
Ego is at once fresh, clever and rich. Law articulates
his compositions around a series of luxurious soundscapes
supported by penetrating drum sequences, slowly building
melodies and atmospheres over the course of each track.
Despite its gentle appearance, Et In Arcadia Ego
shows some clear signs of rampant psychedelia, partly
emphasised by the use of constantly changing soundscapes.
Law is sensed fine-tuning his compositions to maximise
the impact of both the sonic environment and melody.
This results in the album being strikingly consistent
all the way through. The listener gets caught up in
Law’s intricate sound formations and dragged deep
beneath the surface to experience the full scale of
his work. Yet, Et In Arcadia Ego remains candid
and accessible all the way through.
On tracks such as COSHH or Dawn, Law
appears to temper with just a few elements and develop
rough drones and abrasive noise structures, new layers
seem to materialise with each listen, creating contrasting
impressions of depth and definition. But it is on the
richer, more colourful tracks that Law comes to his
own. Jacob/Bad Hand At Cards v2, Brian’s
Tricky ‘Do You Like The Drummer?’ Question
or Sunken demonstrate an incredible dexterity
at assembling intricate soundscapes and beautiful melodies
together and articulating them against each other. Law
contextualises his electronic soundscapes in similar
fashion to the likes of Isan
or Múm, creating
intense narratives and achieving great emotional scope
all the way through.
Despite clocking at just under an hour, Et In Arcadia
Ego flows so well that it comes to an end far too
soon, leaving the listener wanting for more. Even the
longest tracks here appear to vanish into thin air all
too quickly. This is perhaps precisely why this record
works so well. As well as crafting superbly delicate
and stunning compositions, Ruaridh Law resists the temptation
to take his tracks too far. Et In Arcardia Ego
is the most accomplished record released on Highpoint
Lowlife yet, and is one of the most impressive debut
albums of the year.
4.8/5 |
