Aër (Vulpiano Records)

Aër is ambience in its purest form. It seems to speak through the flowing presence and absence of particle fields of which we are scarcely sensorily aware, but innately in thrall to, reminding us of our delicate natural balance. Subliminal electroacoustics move like wind: spiraling in atmospheric eddies, whistling through subterranean channels, humming between circuits boards, cycling through human bodies.

Aër (Vulpiano  Records, release date: 30/10/2020)

 

"A remarkable yet unsettling recording. Atmospheric to the nth degree, Nicolas Tourney's second full-length album of 2020 sees the artist take a skydive into the ether. Like the album cover that perfectly sports a photo of a field underneath a foggy sky, the tone of the record is dark, unpredictable yet ethereal. An album that's quite challenging to pin down musically as it's an instrumental droney album that touches on ambient in specific parts. Aër is the Middle French word for air derived from the Latin word āēr and the ancient Greek ἀήρ [aeer]. Aër is a concept album of sorts, while the tone is foreboding and dark; there are moments of clarity such as on tracks like "Corpus", "Focus" a track that touches on ambient. At the same time "Subterranea" is a  captivating electroacoustic piece. A sense of uncertainty, like a hurricane, approaching, that yet never comes. More or less that's the whole texture of the album. The final three pieces "Varia", "Duplex" and "Soni" flirt with dark ambient. From start to finish Aër is a truly remarkable album indeed. Experimentation aside there are tonnes of other influences all over the record from industrial, geological, and metaphysical sensitivities. The more you listen to it, the more they become apparent." 

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