Evan Hardy & Alex Tedlie-Stursberg - Float

Released: September 6

There is something strangely vintage about the sounds contained in Float. Horns, strings, and small tines coalesce around a varied assemblage of aquatic noises in soft an beautiful ways. Through six tracks, we are exposed to various vignettes that show the beauty of decay and corrosion as time slow takes over objects and places. From the very first few notes of the first track, “Bringing the Anchor Home,” you can hear the mood set forth. It’s a mood of reflection and contemplation, established by the melancholy of the synthetic horns and string as they waver in tone and supported further by the minutiae of the field recordings making their little plinks and plunks. The melancholy gives way to a sense of intrigue and thoughtfulness as arpegeiatied tones take over, with the horns continuing in the background. 

Among the other tracks, a favorite of mine is “Pumice Raft.” It builds on much of the established motifs but a smooth bass takes lead here. Soft electronic strings play a supporting role to the gentle low end thumps with surprisingly less of the soft field recordings throughout. Although, when they do show up, they work fantastically as little accoutrements to the composition, rattling about in a manner that punctuates the phrasing of the strings and bass. The final track, “Arrival at an Unknown Shore,”  pulls off something rather interesting as it feels like the most intricately layered and the most minimalistic at the same time. There is some type of stringed instrument being plucked at very slow intervals and something that sounds like a motorized whirring sound which play off one another spectacularly throughout the track. It even seems as though the two cross over one another at various points, imparting a distorted and slightly harsh tone to the plucks. The slow introduction of the various elements gives this track a lethargic tempo that accommodates the sounds used quite well. 

Overall, the album is quite rich in variety of tones and textures. I didn’t quite expect it to be as serene as it was, but even with all of its serenity, there is something uncomfortable at the bottom of it. Perhaps it is the overarching theme of decay, or the tonal melancholy, or just the fact that bodies of water make me uncomfortable. If it’s the last one for me, then Evan and Alex captured the essence of floating in water profoundly well.