Ogle & Mugwood - Eskypism

 Released: April 10

Eskypsim is a magnificent split album from Ogle (Giulio Fontana) and Mugwood (Antony Ryan) with each artist bringing their particular touch two this two part work. Ogle takes the first half of the album with seven tracks, each of which seem to be built around a series of overlapping arpeggiated sounds. He starts us out with “Azure,” a bright little midtempo composition that feels bouncy and energetic yet still reserved. A cheery sounding lead arp bounces in slightly unpredictable step while low bloops provide something akin to a bass line. This is a heavy feature of Fontana’s contributions to this, those bouncing arps that typically find themselves in cheerier territory but may find themselves in slightly darker or even just somewhat trippy and psychedelic. The track “Flock” leans to the latter with a rapid arp that produces a sort of swirling effect. However, at the end, the final track “Daydream” takes us back to that cheerier vibe that the album opened with and slows things down as we are treated to all manner of sweet and subtle lo-fi tones. 

As we come to the second half of the experience, Mugwood’s half of this album represents a huge but coherent shift. Where Ogle’s half brought us strange and soothing overlapping arps, Mugwood’s takes us in deep ambient territory with little pieces that gives a nod to the first half, which maintains an incredible sense of continuity. The first of the “Andoral” track opens with deep pads that swirl around a bit a they are slowly joined by a delicate sounding lead that gives the same feel as the opening of the first half. “Andoral Part 2” eschews any kind of lead in favor of a beautiful and multilayer pad that hits the sweetest top note. At the end the track is where some of the sampling techniques comes through as we are sent out on a scratchy spoken word sample that comes in right as the pads begin to fade, making a nice little piece of ear candy. “Andoral Part 4” is the only track that opens with this technique and ends with it as we hear joyful singing coming through an old radio. Sandwiched between these corresponding moments are lush and pillowy pads that are once again joined by a particularly fragile sounding lead. 

The balance between the two artists on this album is excellent. The first half feels a bit more upbeat, energetic even, while the second half relaxes the energy considerably. The moment of the shift is perceptible, but it is wonderful how well the two halves complement one another. It makes for a cohesive experience that is equally lush and beautiful.