Wil Bolton - South of the Lake

 


Released: January 8

Anytime I check out a new album, I do my best to go in blind. I allow myself to simply listen and interpret with as little preconceived notions about what I am hearing as possible. In this case, I am ever so grateful that I went with this method as just from the very first airy tone, this album is an instant stress melt. The purely meditative quality stuck me instantly with its long tones and tranquil quality. It was only after my first listen through that I read up on the album’s concept and inspiration, which instantly made sense. The album was influenced in its entirety by Wil’s journey around South Korea. Having stayed in the country myself for some time, it instantly felt so familiar as it conjured up the times in which I got to expereience the Korean countryside, standing amongst the lush green hills and feeling the serenity of the world immediately around me. 

The album features heavy elements of the traditional culture to include singing bowls, tingsha, stones, and field recordings of the Korean countryside with all of its depth of wildlife and natural environment. Wil takes this traditional sounds and pairs them with more modern electronic elements such as as the Arturtia Microfreak, OP-1, and various effect pedals to create something that sounds purely transcendental. He takes care to never overpower or drown out the natural and cultural elements that make this album so special. Rather, he uses these tools as a type of accoutrement to the naturalistic approach. Much of the album feels very much like standing on that grassy hill once again after stepping off of the train in Daegu. Taking a moment to look around myself and see the beauty that the natural world is capable of. 

While the natural and cultural elements are the focus of this album, they manifest and dominate to varying degrees. “Sun Tree Trail” is a track which focuses on much more on the melodic elements while “Early Morning Rain” leans heavily on that natural elements of the world, sinking deeply into the field recordings and taking a lofi approach to the more harmonic and melodic elements of the track. It all makes for such a wonderfully raw approach that leaves the refinement to the broad strokes while preserving the finer details, such as the sound of rain softly pattering on the ground and the sound of the wind on a lone hill. A beautiful amalgamation of sounds that brings tranquility and peace, plus a sense of warm memories for myself personally. 


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