Reviews 223: Seahawks
Seahawks are perhaps my favorite producers, with the duo of Pete Fowler and Jon Tye making frequent and far-out excursions into the musical worlds I love most: phaser-blasted new age, sea-foam space music, ambient dream fusion, coastal jazz exotica, mystical dolphin drone, meditative saxophone prog, rainbow toned krautrock, and tropical lounge pop. They’ve been on a hot streak as of the last few years, starting with 2017’s Escape Hatch and Starways, which collected some of their most confident and focused sonic explorations, including the balearic pop masterpiece “Valparaiso” (and the equally breathtaking remix by Nick Mackrory). Then last year, Jon and Pete joined forces with vibratory healer Laraaji for Eternal Beams, an incredibly beautiful expanse of new age spiritualism and restorative rain magic. Now, Seahawks have released Eyes of the Moon on Cascine, an LP inspired by the Hopi Tribe and Sufi teacher Hazrar Inayat Khan that musically explores smeared out zones of aquatic space synthesis and meditative Mu-Tron Bi-Phase mesmerism, while also working in sea-blue guitar atmospheres, island breeze rhythms, psychedelic chill-out rituals, world jazz drifts (featuring the EWI wind-controller/synth), and dreampop sways wherein mermaid choirs and angel voices swim together through oceans of starlight. The artwork by Yoshirotten is also something to behold…an immersive and otherworldly visual experience featuring paradise panoramas of pink, purple, and blue and futuristic landscapes fading into granular hallucinations.
Seahawks - Eyes of the Moon (Cascine, 2019) In “Emergence,” phaser-waves wash over airy shaker rhythms and machine cymbal taps as Amy Gedgaudas flows over top with a quasi-stoned monologue…like some sort of spaced out god floating amidst clouds of every color. Angelic choral progressions and intergalactic pad orchestrations pan back and forth as their melodies uplift the soul, the whole thing evoking early 90s The Orb at their most zoned out and euphoric. The phaser motions suffusing the mix are heavily modulated as everything is slowly obscured into galactic ether, all while vague hints of palm-muted guitar tropicalia from Alik Peters-Deacon waft through synthetic approximations of intergalactic transmissions and satellite calibrations. The vibe shifts dramatically at some point as shadows move in, bringing with them a sensual darkness built from bass pulses, underwater EWI and saxophone ambiance, and vibrato smothered guitars playing themes for alien deserts, all while the cymbal and shaker rhythms continue their fantasy glide. Eventually the effervescent orchestrations and narcotizing choir ecstasies return...their sea-spray motions wrapping around the spirit as dolphin mystics cast spells of light. But the effect is all-to-brief, as the conclusion of the track sees the ominous energies returning, with sparkling idiophones and bubble-clouds of chiming treble swelling above smeared out sequences, enveloping bass currents, and haunted string synth swirls.
Flowers of static bloom within wavering bass motions at the start of the "Eyes of the Moon”, as marimbas are slowly sequenced through tropical dream patterns. Citizen Helene’s synth-shrouded voice flows like a warmly pulsing body of light in an ocean of ether as tranced out phaserwaves descend over the mix (reminding me of Experimental Audio Research in the process). Kosmische sequences flow alongside seaside idiophones and chiming tones ring out from eternal mountaintops as a pulsating throb emerges, built from hushed drum movements that flange and phase wildly. Crystalline tones create balearic tapestries of aquamarine, electronics mimic seabirds, tambourines jangle away, and squelching sequences build in strength while soft cascades of synthetic fire glide through new age drone smears, eventually leading to a coda of meditative static and ominous shadow magic. “Color Temples” follows with an interstellar samba shuffle that features woodblocks and cymbals dancing playfully over warm kick drums. Dan Hillman’s EWI-generated feedback streaks intertwine with Jake Calladine’s spirit guitar, all soaring leads and wigged out prog descents dazzling the mind. As the rhythms cut away, they leave behind a dreamscape of strangely flowing pad movements, with resonant trails and phaser streaks weaving dayglo mirages. And when the subdued exotica rhythms return, they are surrounded by slow motion vortices of heart-melting enchantment while gaseous leads hint at glorious melodies…like themes for cosmic castles and mermaid kingdoms obscured through foggy fx layers.
Rapidly revolving whirlpools of white noise move through amorphous bodies of dream synthesis in “Astral Echoes” while whalesong drones wrap around modulating brass pads. Faith House’s lonely cyborg voice drifts freely amidst blowing space winds and sad string fantasias while feedback bodies glow like an infinite web of gemstones. A playful arp moves through the mix only to be repeatedly overwhelmed by boiling bodies of electronic ether while sorcerous siren songs flow out from a mysterious island hidden within the sonic miasma. Dan Hillman's cosmic sax blends into the myriad layers of synthetic sound and as Alik Peter-Deacon’s sparkling guitars vibrate through the air, we flow into a smokey outro of twilight jazz enchantment and tremolo riff intoxication. Then in “Run Through My Mind,” schools of rainbow fish swim through static oceans and pan-pipes introduce a spellbinding synth arp that sometimes wavers and wiggles as if threatening to split into two…like some sort of synthesizer cell division. Pianos are smeared into an LSD dreamfog as smoldering waves of noise crash onto some interstellar shore and during a dramatic drop out, everything seems like it is being sucked backwards through a blackhole. After the resulting stretch of silence, triumphant synth chords reintroduce the sequential fantasy melodies while the body is overwhelmed by white light drone hazes and pearlescent clouds of meditative noise that swirl forever…these multilayered vortices obscuring melodic fever dreams and kosmische color crystals floating deep with the hallucinogenic space storm.
In “Over & Over,” swinging exotica basslines ride an energetic downbeat rhythm of pillowy kicks, shuffling cymbal sizzles, and woodblocks and rimshots ring-modulating towards a sunset horizon. The heavenly horns of Dan Hillman and Simon Dobson are stretched and transformed into intergalactic goo…their harmonizing leads, scatting breaths, desperate wails, and gaseous moans surrounded by psychedelic wisps of fusion synth soloing. Things sound as if beamed in from an alternate dimensions…the sounds spectral, faded, and vaporous. And as the song works towards big band climax, poppy old world brass harmonies waltz over bongo and conga cascades while sea-creatures breach and dance together on shimmering blue wave crests. Morphing and mutating waves of granular noise splash off of Alik Peters-Deacon’s romantic guitar meditations in “Dancing Inner Space,” with golden arpeggios and chords flowing on liquid vibrato currents. All around swell blistering clouds of noise-drone transcendence and the seaside percussion of Charlie Michael works into a fantasy jazz rhythm…this pitch-perfect balearic sway moved around by seaside fusion tones and ambient space drones. Breaths and voices lurk deep within the amorphous synth haze and at some point the track zones out completely, seeing starshine electronics, heavily effected saxophones, and diamond-toned clusters emanate from the center of the cosmos as hovering drones merge with purifying blasts of white light.
“5th World Symphony” starts with tones of primordial creation…as if the birth of our universe is being told through a Mu-Tron Bi-Phase…layer after layer sweeping together through deeply hypnotic and vocal resonances. Lush e-pianos enter with bass chords floating the soul and high-up leads wandering through new age cloudrealms as tropical hand drums flow alongside the kind of intoxicating and fusion-leaning synthbass perfection that dominated Escape Hatch and Invisible Sunrise, all bubbling and bouncing lines exploring crystal caverns and underwater expanses. As ocean birds flit through rainbow hazes, we build towards a glorious climax of Phil Collins ethno-jazz led by double time cymbal patterns and paradise leads that swell the heart, all until the track breaks down into a cosmic slop of modulating sonic vapors and indescribable color radiations. When the basslines return, they now flow untethered from any beat and are thus transformed into a hypnotic dreamsequence leading a deep dive into some glowing star ocean. Everything seems increasingly obscured by purifying washes of starlight until suddenly, a swaggering slow motion disco beat emerges from the celestial void, bringing with it vibes of dubbed out dancefloor magic. Mystical flutes drift above tranced out synth repetitions while cymbals phase chaotically and piercing lasers background guitars that sound more like harps…their enchanting lullabies emanating from far below the surface of an eternal sea…each note rippling through the water and trailed by golden clouds of glitter.
(images from my personal copy)