Élément Kuuda - Harbour of the North Wind

 

Released: February 6

Harbour of the North Wind  is a rich and dynamic album that takes a number of minimal elements and bundles them together into a wide range of tracks that keep a consistent motif of the cold north at their center. There’s quite a bit going throughout the album with tracks that go from windswept oceanscape ambient to more tightly arranged downbeat bops that call back to a fuzzy Boards of Canada vibe with plenty of melodic synths woven together. But even with the complexity of the arrangement, the base pieces of each track come across as simple, easy, and accessible. It gives a feel of complexity without being so heady as to distract from its simple message of the beauty of the oceanside as perceived and expressed by its author. 

Of particular interest for me are the spacious ambient tracks, particularly the short interlude of a track “Myst Fortahn Sky.” It starts out ever so softly with the lightest of woodwind synths playing out a singular harmony. This harmony becomes, in essence, the entire song, as each part build slowly on top of it and expanding the range of the single harmony. It feels fantastic to listen to as the increasing spectrum of sounds washes over you slowly. But on the other hand there’s a track like “Farewell Sea Friend’ that brings the chill wave feeling to the album with soft but present drums and a great bass bump behind it all. The synth work here is impeccable as well with an exciting arpeggiated line played out in a soft synthesized tone. 

What’s very interesting throughout the album is just how natural these tones feel rather than feel with some sound much more like natural woodwinds than anything truly synthesized. For me, this is what makes it so captivating to listen to as it feels like it has perfectly bridged a gap between the natural and the synthetic without skipping over the better qualities of either. This alone is reason that you should give a proper listen.