Electric Supply Station - Constellation of Scars EP

 Released: March 27

Electric Supply Station’s latest release is a wonderful combination of influences that stay rather neatly within the bounds of ambient while introducing a variety of other elements. One of the most peculiar is the guitar in this case, not because it’s unusual to include in this setting, but because of the particular style in which the guitar parts manifest. On the first track, “Cool Winter Silence,” it makes a certain impression as small cyclical electronic sounds play along with glitchy and clipped up vocal segments. The guitar enters with the bravado and tone of a solo found in the most classic of rock ballads. It almost seems to conflict with the surrounding tones but works beautifully as a counterweight to the rest of the composition. 

We get very little, if any, more of this unique guitar addition on the remainder of the album. However, ESS builds on this idea of a lead as a counterweight throughout the album. On “Ear Traffic,” this role is played to some extent by this particular synth line that feels wonderfully wavy and somewhat cosmic in the vintage sense. This particular track is densely packed, featuring bizarre vocal clips that sound as though they were pulled out of the sci-fi films of the early days and a bed of gentle pads. It gives the track a feeling of being tonally slightly off-kilter in a fun sense. “We Welcomed You” closes out the experience with usually muted sounding vocal clips and a very prominent piano part that makes for the tonal contrast. It has a similarly off-kilter vibe but is probably one of the most sparse tracks on the album, leaning heavily on airy atmospheres and that sense of floating imbued by the keys playing gently.