A+ for concept, A- for listening.
23 tracks, the titles of which, when listed in order, describe their intended method of listening, which is: out of order, and on infinite repeat.
Such a listen will have a single constant sketched through it, a tense, thin, sustained violin note, wobbling uncertain under Atlasian strain, upon which each of the 32-second tracks* adds some surge of strings, some gloaming horn wash, some parallel violin line, some stretched 3-note micromelody, rising into place, and then fading away in time for a clean handoff to the next. The rhythm is like the slow breathing of a lover drifting to sleep.
Each track causes its own resonance. Uncertainty, resignation, hope, ennui, like a daydream across a set of loosely connected memories, nostalgia slipping so easily into regret into determination.
I've put in three sessions**, each at least long enough to make it through the whole cycle twice, and they've felt more or less the same, but connected to different feelings. Always a little sad, but flecked with acceptance. Few albums deliver this well on concept and execution. A beautiful little record that fits right into this technological and emotional moment 4.5/5
* except for the last track, titled 'thank you' which adds an extra 11 seconds. discuss?
** not counting that time when I accidentally left it looping for 24+ hours, as discovered via a friend's spotify account while out of the house, a fact that amused me beyond explanation and which has ruined my lastfm scrobbling data forever
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