회사AUTO - Memory Eternal

 

Released: January 3 

Memory Eternal is the first release in a series coming throughout this year from veteran vaporwave producer 회사AUTO. While making his name in vaporwave, this release shows that he is certainly not confined to only the conventions of the genre. Indeed, the album spans all types of various genres while keeping its vaporwave sensibilities intact over the course of its sixteen tracks. Thematically, it plays out like a series of sonic vignettes, each one giving a different subject that aligns with the overarching nostalgic and reflective theme. But the album opens up with a bang as the rapid fire DnB inspired ‘Air Chase” comes in swinging. The name definitively fits well as it gives off those Super Nintendo vibes of a level in which you’re chasing someone or something down with nice little neo-vintage feel. 

The album is really surprising in terms of what I heard, especially when I got to a track like “Moxie,” which is about as rock as one can get on this one. It’s definitely got some of that late 80s and early 90’s melodic content but it combines it with a rhythm guitar that is pretty heavy and crushing, giving me more glimpses of the early to mid-2000s in rock. And that’s really where the fun of this album comes - the fact that just about everything is getting thrown in and it fits well no matter how out of left-field it may seem. 

As the album draws to a close, we get our first indication that something is changing with “Ponderance,” a short little track that reminds me of a reimagining of those late night bumpers you would get on any of the basic channels giving you a vague schedule of programming. But then, the album shifts entirely on “Zephyr.” Where everything before was short and more like a snapshot of a theme, this track takes us headlong into ambient territory by way of long and swirling pads, the absence of any drums, and an almost nine minute runtime that has us basking in the floating atmosphere for a while. It feels very ominous while also sounding mystical and ethereal. The final track, “Tears of Rain," feels much like a continuation of this theme with more emphasis on the keys than the pads. The shine and waving brightness of the keys play into the somewhat broken melodic theme, creating an emotive landscape that feels navigable but simultaneously arduous. It’s a somewhat unexpected ending considering the beginning, but one that fits in quite well.