'if i had more time, i would have written a shorter letter.' in the case of ginormous’ third album on hymen records, bryan konietzko did take more time and produced his most direct and potent musical message to date. 'at night' is even more emotive and personal than ginormous’ previous work, all while resisting self-indulgence. these eleven tracks were objectively beaten and honed until they each became the most condensed and vivid versions of themselves. bryan konietzko shines his bright, 'artificial light' on the elements that hoards of electronic music composers fear the most: melody, song structure and brevity. the album is an intense and addictive experience, charging forward with the nervous energy of urban, nighttime cityscapes, speeding subways and foreboding factories. there is an organic, human element at the center of this unrelenting journey, in the form of symphonic and acoustic instruments and warm bass lines, balancing the bold compositions. the album starts with 'punches to carefully coax,' a proud peacock of a track where thick, jagged planes of ice collide with razor sharp synth strings. 'melted circadian' bristles with a chromatically-fractal melody that spins like a neon helix in vertigo. konietzko parades a passionate assortment of prepared guitars with a muscular beat in the sweeping 'coiled so tightly.' the title track confidently trudges like a phalanx of tungsten-clad shadows pursuing a cloud of glittering insects. 'from deep bore holes' hypnotizes with an unsettlingly lingual snare drum that tries and fails to speak, possibly warning of the molten, rubberized synth melody that waits in the depths, poised to scald. finally, 'awakening the magpie in all of us' sails on a slow bonham-esque dream-beat while dozens of chimes and metallophones pull the 43-minute album to its inevitable, timely conclusion.
|
