Sparseness and restraint that can be difficult to achieve without a certain level of confidence and discipline in what is taking place musically.
Sparseness and restraint that can be difficult to achieve without a certain level of confidence and discipline in what is taking place musically. With Amniopticon Muckle Pup achieve this goal almost effortlessly, with an atmosphere that recalls such acoustic artists as Jose Gonzalez and Fink. It drags you in with its sense of honesty and absence of pretentious adornments. O What We Ben includes sampling as a backdrop but is not over-burdened but this added dimension. All the same, it is an almost gurgling, bubbling current beneath the almost entirely voiceless track. The voice is limited to providing an expressive vocal harmony, offering the listener simplicity without being simplistic.
This Modern Eschaton offers a glimpse of self-doubt, perhaps stemming from the expectations placed on fallible human beings in a highly mechanised society. “Tonight you cannot sleep for the nagging doubt in your mind… this modern eschaton you seek doesn’t look all that new to me. You and I will not be free while we hold another’s fear, no.” It’s as if all sense of novelty has drained out of apocalyptic thinking, leaving resignation and a gentle tambourine in its wake.
Indicators Show Depth is a track featuring the sound of water that, once again, provides the backdrop for a spareness much like that found two tracks previous. The human voice is used much the same way and, for that reason, seems more like an extension of the same idea than a self-supporting track. A Certain Fleeting opens with a variety of non-musical sounds (tapping, what sounds like plastic being scratched with nails, and other such details), before cutting into the song proper – a quiet reflection on, and appreciation for, the privilege of being alive.
Torquehouse Bay continues the song, instrumental, song instrumental pattern with which this release has been organised. Bouncing notes lay across a field recording capturing mechanical, steam-like bursts of sounds, children talking in the distance, time passing slowly. The first half of Bring Me Back has a rawer acoustic sound, closer to the twang of a banjo. One imagines that Muckle Pup have recorded the song on a cassette tape and then converted this to digital for the release, but it’s hard to tell for sure. Waves can be heard crashing in the background. The feeling of distance doesn’t leave entirely during the second half of the song, despite this second half shifting into a quality equal to the other songs. “Save your breath. Life’s too short. You can’t win if you fight this way.” A female is laughing in the distance. Nevertheless, the affection in the lyrics makes me wonder whether he’s singing this for her.
This is an impressive EP, achieving a curious and thoughtful tension between recorded and found sounds. The result is a contemplative atmosphere that is maintained throughout. I’m really quite glad to have heard it.
