Paul Padilla - Absent

 Released: July 31

As I listened through Paul Padilla’s latest album, something that struck me over and over again with each track is the manner in which he was able to intertwine harsh and noisy elements with soft and soaring synths and strings into this wonderful melange. It repeatedly goes back and forth between these two elements, with some tracks beginning as these beautiful moments that are slowly overtaken by crushing noises only to retreat back to the beauty it began with. Other tracks invert this dynamic while others disregard it entirely in favor of wildly going back and forth. The beginning track, “2–2 Torture Memos,” opt for the former dynamic, opening with a light set of ethereal pads that slowly crush into frightening noises which eventually subside. The pads return, now accompanied by new sounds of reversed keys and subtle oscillations. It makes for something that feels rather conflicted, mournful, and uncomfortable. 

This combination of beauty and ugliness speaks volumes to its underlying intention. Loosely based on the horrors we all get to see live-streamed in Gaza, the album alludes hauntingly to the feeling of hopelessness in the face of unrelenting decimation. With uncomfortable pieces such as “Chloral Suicide” and “Ashen Bodies,” the album tries to capture these heart-wrenching scenes as much as possible from a distance. The former of these two is particularly distressing in its harmonic motif that sense up a feeling of intense apprehension and dread with the piercing noises cutting in more and more as the tension builds up. It feels awful in a lot of ways, but it is also very effective in its approach. But again, it’s that combination of the harmonic and atonal, which is pulled off so very well, that solidifies the extreme discomfort and terror. 

Nearly all proceeds from sales will go to Dahnoun Mutual Aid for Gaza.