Leit Motif - Vestige

 

Released: January 31

Working under an alternate moniker, Fragile X (as Leit Motif) brings us new album the is filled with intricacies and subtlety in equal amounts. True to the nature of his previous works, we are given series of extended soundscapes that work through very slow and methodical evolutions as new elements slowly inject themselves into the existing frameworks, subtly altering the moods almost transparently. For this review I will attempt to not use the word motif, but make no promises. 

Even with the predominately formless nature of the album, which is undoubtedly intentional given the very name being Vesitge, there are several tracks that stand apart and seek to become a solid formation. “Welcome Home” comes to mind as a track that inserts a certain kind of tension into itself with deep humming basses and a consistent reoccurring arpeggio that drives the ambient noise around it into a specific direction. The effect is almost something like a runaway planet that is pulling an iridescent cloud around as it hurtles quickly through the void. Going back to and earlier track “Seva,” we can hear inklings of this except contextualized and more of an awe and wonder inducing feeling. But the sound effects on this track are what truly stand out. They feel, again, rather spacefaring. The long whooshes and upward sweeps take the other sounds around them in unpredicted directions and give a somewhat dizzying framing. 

By the end of the album we have returned to to a more calm and minimalist type of ambient scene, complete with a gently racing piano and highly reverberant pads that conjure images of deep clouds of unnatural colorings - greens, purples, and pinks - all which put the gentle keys above but still just within their soft embrace. It makes for a gentle and beautiful end to an album filled with with rich and soft textures that take on a form for one track and then sheds it completely by the next.