Inventions melds the considerable electronic/drone/ambient energies of Eluvium’s Matthew Robert Cooper and Explosions in the sky’s Mark T. Smith without sounding much like either of them. These blossoming auras of synthethic sound are a little too euphoric and communally celebratory, for instance, to fit very well into Eluvium’s moody canon; they have kept the guitar down to a minimum unlike Explosions in the Sky’s main body of work. Now, three albums in, this whenever-it-fits partnership seems to have grown its own particular aesthetic, a glowing, pulsing, floating electronic soundscape that idealizes and denatures its component instruments.
Continuous Portrait begins in laughter and a trebly, spike synth arpeggio, a tincture of giddiness running through “Hints and Omens,” as two like-minded artists take joy in throwing sparks at one another. As “Calico” takes over you can hear their sub-verbal interchange, as one idea is matched by another, set down gently in counterpoint to see what happens, then another comes in to further the conversation. Piano, fuzzy guitar, wavery synth notes, a children’s choir all flutter through in tight repetitive loops, polished a little brighter than their natural sounds. There is a sense of play, of trying things on, of improv’s “Yes, and…” as each musician stirs the other to further endeavors.
It sounds like the additive process is mostly done by email, with Cooper tinkering with Smith’s files and vice versa, yet there’s a lively, organic quality to these exchanges. The mourning dove calls in the title track bring out an introspective mood that’s echoed and enveloped by synth tones. “Spirit Refinement Exploder” skitters percolating synth bursts over a slouchy back-leaning beat, little flourishes of sampled singing (“over and over again”), a speaking voice and something that sounds like a train whistle coming and going, as the church organ surge of triumphal melody builds.
All of the sounds seem a little brighter, a little more spiritually charged than their real-world counterparts would be, especially the voices, which float untethered to narrative but imbued with boundless optimism and uplift. I’ve been craving this sort of sound lately, which sounds like human beings but better, perhaps as part of my pandemic insanity. There is something about an upward slant of melody, sung by voices without a trace of breath or struggle or spit, that seems to fit the slot these days. It’s as if I remember other people, but not very well, with fondness, but already the edges are blurring.
Inventions // Continuous Portrait on .: NOVA MUSIC blog
Eluvium’s Matthew Cooper and Explosions In the Sky’s Mark T. Smith further their creative curiosities as Inventions, releasing the album ‘Continuous Portrait’.
Continuous Portrait is the sonic version of recessive genes. This is not the type of album one might expect from an ambient artist (Matthew Cooper) and part of a post-rock band (Explosions in the Sky’s Mark T. Smith). But it makes sense, since the duo is called Inventions.
The album starts with laughter that leads to synth, a reflection of the title “Hints and Omens.” The listener relaxes,…
