survey channel - macrozones

Released: August 21

In somewhat of a surprise release, longtime friend of this blog survey channel brings us an exploration of pattern repetition and how to break out of it, or at least start to break from it. As usual, the synth tones throughout are exceptionally lush and atmospheric, with bits of ear candy sprinkled into the for added depth. “The Integration” stands out in this regard as it fully relies on and expands these tones broadly. As it begins, there is a simple and subdued pad that forms a pillowy bed on which minute pieces of static feedback lie and a single voices echoes out. For the tracks that do contain percussion, the sets feel rather discrete, like small pieces adding a complex accent to the underlying tones and themes. “Inner Landscape does this with beautiful result playing a repeating theme that fades in and out with a sense of gentleness in a sort of ebb and flow fashion. 

Thematically, the album is a complex bag of thoughts with a particular focus on addiction, whether that be physical or psychological. It’s a rather poignant theme as we all face it now, especially in the light of thousands of entities that attempt to form these addictions — substances, social media, foods, consumption, subscriptions — all for their own benefit. The music supports these themes in terms of how much of seems to exude a sense of burnout. A feeling that all of these manufactured experiences have burned through the last chemical receptors in our brains and left us with a sense of numbness yet we still have the desire to feel. This feeling comes through particularly well in the endings of many of the tracks as they stretch out for some time, giving the impression that they may not ever end. The sense of emptiness that is being slowly refilled is theme that arises from this motif, implying a certain hope for this conundrum that we find ourselves in. It’s just a quite fantastic and relevant album that is skillful and succinct in its execution.