A Closer Listen
Four continents, seven tracks, eight guest stars, twenty-two minutes of music: Worlds: Collide is a crash course in ambience, the tonal opposite of the 1951 sci-fi film it references. The music shimmers like Cynthia Bernard’s cover art, and seven related images are distributed to the tracks. Should one be worried about worlds colliding, or anxious about the state of the world as it is, this EP is the panacea.
“Soaring” begins with beguiling stereo effects, notes traveling speaker to speaker like little rockets. When the (wordless) voice enters, the effect is like a gentle opening of curtains at the beginning of the day, as nuances of light glean on the horizon. At the very end, a bird says hello.
The seven track titles are intertwined: “Soaring, Remaining, Oscillating, Replicating, Emerging, Remembering, Colliding.” In like fashion, Benjamin Tatlow’s project has a unified tone, a difficult feat to accomplish with so many guest stars. Field recordings are never far from the surface; nor are the hints of chimes. The music is meant to be relaxing, a pleasant collision. These musicians may be scattered across several continents, but they share a similar vision, a message of peace.
In the direct center, Pulse Mandala nearly nudges the music into the electronic realm. Waves of ambience roll across the sonic shore while notes dance on the surface of the ocean. But after only a minute, they recede, becoming an underlying current. The highest-profile piece, “Emerging (with Be Still the Earth & Hollie Kenniff) is content to interact with the others like streams to the sea; no jutting personalities, only a desire for commonality. Flipping the script of the prior piece, a pulse emerges as the track progresses. Then everyone goes home. In the end, Antarctic Wastelands is left to reflect on the collaborative effort, his soft piano a gentle thanksgiving. (Richard Allen)
Mon Feb 17 00:01:05 GMT 2025