Trem77 - Aepochs

Released: February 13

The latest from Bristol-based Trem 77 is a surreal exploration of existence beyond consciousness told through seven tracks of slow-moving psychedelia. Each track keeps with this sensation of floating and drifting, as if the world constructed around the album is simply illusory and fleeting. It immerses the listener in this world of unclear constructs masterfully and gives a certain level of grounding to latch on to while keeping things just beyond full comprehension. It opens up with “Into the Fields” and its sweeping synths and a seemingly just slightly too slow beat comprised of pitch stretched drum hits that provide just the right amount of crunch to the track. It feels like falling into some kind of weird time dilation hole which set the rest of the album up perfectly. 

Much of the rest of the album falls deep into ambient territory with some odd additions. “Refracted Reflection” comes across at first as a simple example of ambient with big swelling pads. But these large swelling pads are slowly joined by a lead instrument that sounds almost like mourning. Almost sounding like a vocal at times, it weaves a delicate interplay with the synth in a way that is difficult to place emotionally. It sounds a little sad but also a bit bright and slightly mystical with a sense of ambiguity that really speaks to the themes that underpin the album. 

In the few spots where percussion is made use of, it always feels just ever so slightly off. The rhythms are fairly clear, but there’s always something that intentionally doesn’t sit quite right. “Hemispherical October Days” is perfect in this regard as the kick seems to move ever so slightly to the left and right as each cycle of the rhythm. It blends well into the rather sparse bit of synths going on in the track, feeling like punctuation marks on a soft whisper. The album carefully alternates between this two styles, finally ending us on the supremely delicate ambient notes of “Aepochs” with a back and forth between crunchy textures and soft pillowy scenes over six minutes of introspective bliss.