Be My Friend in Exile - Meanderer

 

Released: February 14 

In his first album in a number of years, Miguel Gomes returns under his moniker of Be My Friend In Exile to bring us an enchantingly dark album that lives up to its title. Meanderer feels rather winding and spacious as it drifts along its eight track runtime. Much of what we get here falls firmly in the realm of ambient and drone but there’s plenty of strange and mysterious tones to sink gently into. Really, there’s some very odd still in here as well, particularly later on in the album. 

The first few tracks feel quite introductory, with “Crown Shyness” and “Amidst This” feeling like whispers in vast and cold landscapes. It strikes a somewhat apocalyptic tone in these opening moments- quiet and dark. But as it progresses, we come to the epic “Coaxial Persuasion” where things grow incrementally louder with more present tones that feel like a lonely calling out from among a noise peppered soundscape. The odd distorted noise that combines with the more well-defined but airy synths is a spooky combo the works well enough to carry the track for its nearly twelve minutes without wearing thin. 

With the dark and minimal opening, some really interesting and layered movements happen in the latter half of the album, particularly at the very end. “Diurnality” comes in as a melancholy beacon of new motifs as it progresses from its whispery opening. Gentle plucked strings ring out in the negative space and add a certain sense of hopefulness and determination right at the tail of this album. It brings a defined sense of direction the album, one that feels like it has suddenly been determined almost entirely by hindsight. But it is a move that fits in very well with the name and theme of the album, as it began by meandering and ended with a reflection. It’s an amazing little revelation that takes the entire runtime to reveal itself.