A Closer Listen
After releasing three singles in the past three years, Toronto’s Estle is finally getting ready to release their debut album. It’s Always Been You starts in ambience and ends in beats, tracing the path of a romance, as indicted in the title. The album is light and breezy, a happy occasion featuring multiple guests, including two – Galen Tipton and Holly Waxwing – who are releasing their own album August 9, also on Orange Milk, including a guest appearance from Estle. Other guest stars appear on both releases as well. We feel that it would be unfair to separate the two, as these albums are such natural soulmates; the only slight adjustment we’ve made is to capitalize these artists’ names in the review, as they alternate between caps and non-caps on the releases themselves.
Crickets buzz in the beginning of It’s Always Been You; birds chirp, water laps, a soft wind blows, and a gentle flute wafts through the bulrushes. The opening is like the beginning of spring, or of romance, all possibilities open. Light beats enter, tingling with the blush of affection. Voices drift on the notes like white dandelion seeds searching for a new place to grow. One would be hard-pressed to dance – not yet – but the time is coming. By the end of this title track, all is in bloom. Strings and guitar add lushness before the field recordings return. And then one of the album’s highlights, first single “Life in Superposition” feat. Ari Liloia, in which electronics percolate like droplets in a stream. Amid the sparkle lies an intimation of brass as the track tumbles smoothly into the next. The tempo increases considerably, touching on IDM, as the romance hits its next level. In “Dandelion,” all the sonic elements coalesce: field recordings and electronics, varying tempos, high-pitched samples and a sense of abandon; it’s no wonder the subtitle is “Let Go.”
It’s Always Been You segues smoothly into keepsakeFM, which also begins with its title track. The difference is that Galen Tipton & Holly Waxwing’s album is ready to take the floor as soon as it starts. The romance is intact: “All I’m saying, we can make it if we try; I just needed to believe in me.” The field recordings return, along with the helium voices. A greater number of tracks flow together, making the set seem at times like a mix; everyone seems happy, as if attending a dance party where every person has had exactly one drink. “tiny wings” is particularly ebuillent, bearing tidings of cheer. It’s interesting to note “bug charm” here, as It’s Always Been You has “Bug Matrix” ~ either great minds think alike, or name their tracks as a team. The former sneaks a banjo into the party, to great effect.
These works represent a slight tonal shift for label, who calls the collective “the next generation of Orange Milk favorites.” We’re looking forward to hearing more of their shared efforts, imagining them as one big happy family, dancing through the night and into the day. (Richard Allen)
Wed Jul 17 00:01:07 GMT 2024