Please Close Your Eyes - Nibiru / Heaven On The Fourth Floor

 Released: August 23

A new two-track story based release from Please Close Your Eyes (an alias of Oliver Richards), this rather short EP is inspired by a series Richards was preoccupied with for some time. It essentially follows the story of a woman who upon learning about the impending doom of the Earth, continues her mundane life calmly as the rest of the world around her panics. It's a rather interesting concept. Given this context, the compositions here makes a lot of sense as they feel calm and intentional, with light motifs that sit against a gloomy backdrop. 

In the first track, "Nibiru," it opens with a somewhat ominous rising ambiance, almost like a wall of sound coming at you. But then it quickly subsides and gives way to deep pinging sound that seems to just bounce through the atmosphere effortlessly. It continues in this manner as it slowly morphs into higher pitched and more erratic noises until the end takes us out with the very same ominous sound it began with. There's almost like a sandwich effect with the rather carefree tones being between the ominous risers. The second track dispenses with any preconceptions of impending doom and simply allows airy pads and oscillating tones to bounce around in an insouciant manner, completely unbothered by what it going on around it. I personally love the assortment of synth tones on this particular track, especially with the use of 8-bit adjacent splashes that come up near the end. They really solidify the nonchalant feel of the composition and gave me a bit of a fuzzy feeling at the same time.