c.soûle aka wiley soule - Solamente Augustine

 

Released: February 23

The first release from c.soûle in nearly a year, Solamente Augustine represent a strange and varied tribute to the inner voice or the conscience of its author. With the pace of a sharp psychological drama, the album twists through various settings, some of which feel more solemn and reflective while other push that boundary of solemnity to the point in which it breaks.  Putting this in context, there is the opening track "Part I: We spiced it like Saturn, yeah?" which presents this more ruminative atmosphere as synths swell in stern fashion, giving hint to thoughts and emotional toil just below the surface. In contrast, the next track "Black Meringue," takes what was rolling below the surface and bring it to the forefront as twisting and distorted sounds mangle their way through the soundscape as light drone fill up the background. In just these first two pieces, we already are made aware of the multiform basis of the album. 

Bearing the name of the album itself, " Solamente Augustine" returns to the somberness of the first track with the airiness of the drones along with some of the guttural and twisted electronics of the second track as well. This synthesis is then replaced by bare minimalism of "Part II: Caraway'ed, if Dandelion Milk, It Bitter Down" as it begins with ever so little sound, barley more than a whisper of a pad. As the track builds slowly, more of the strange accouterments of sound begin to appear sporadically, but always keeping that minimal foundation in tact. As the album ends, we are taken away on an atonal note as barely legible pastiches of noises collide into one another "Ten Pulse Sigil; Adore, Commence." It make for a rather chaotic way to end things, but I suppose it sends home the message that there is rarely a clean resolution in matters of inner life.