Aether - 2023 - Aether

(43:17; Overdub Recordings)

Track list:
1. Echo Chamber 2:33
2. Radiance 4:09
3. Thin Air 4:15
4. Grey Halo 2:38
5. Pressure 4:29
6. A Gasp of Wind 5:06
7. A Yellow Tear in a Blue-Dyed Sky 2:58
8. Moving Away 4:36
9. The Shores of Bolinas 2:58
10. Crimson Fondant 5:02
11. This Bubble I'm Floating In 4:33

Line-up:
Andrea Serino - Fender Rhodes, keyboards
Andrea Ferrari - guitars
Andrea Grumelli - bass, Chapman Stick
Matteo Ravelli - drums, electronics


Prolusion.
Italian band Aether is a fairly recent addition to the Italian music scene, with the band forming back in 2021 and working at developing material since then. At the start of 2023 this creative process was finalized with the release of their debut album "Aether" through Italian label Overdub Recordings.

Analysis.
Aether is a band that aims to combine aspects and elements from three different forms of music, namely jazz, post-rock and ambient music. And with this aim in mind, I'd say that their debut album is a successful venture too, as this is an album filled with compositions that it would be difficult to place in any of those three traditions while also containing elements from all of them.

A common denominator throughout are that these all instrumental escapades are elegant and flowing affairs, often on the border of coming across as floating in expression, and a specific quality of the landscapes explored here is that they come with a bit of a bleak and barren beauty rather than a more striking or captivating element of entrancing moods and atmospheres.

At the best and most interesting this comes in the guise of flowing elegant and ambient landscapes with some fort of jazz-oriented underpinning or a dominant element making use of instrument movements from that tradition, backed by nervous overlays with more of a nod towards post-rock and with subtle noise effects that creates a very subtle but still unnerving undercurrent to the landscapes explored. A bit like looking at a black and white picture like the one that has been chosen for the cover art of this album and seeing something that is just a little bit wrong in the picture, one or more small details that transforms the more serene or bleak beauty into something more mysterious and possibly a bit menacing.

The compositions here live and breathe on the use of subtle contrasts and subtle effects, and while the band are successful at that, complete with several inclusions of the expressive floating guitar textures I'll probably always associate with a certain Robert Fripp, for my taste in music quite a few of the tracks lacks that additional element that will enable to pull me into the moods and atmospheres explored on a deeper level. This is, at least in part, due to many of these compositions coming across as more of a detailed look into a specific point in a specific landscape rather than being a journey through it. And while I can appreciate both of these types of songs in general, I do prefer being exposed to more movement, and it does require more of a song to appeal for my taste in music when there is less movement present.

As with many other matters regarding music this is something that cokes down to subjective taste. On a more technical level I'd say that this is a band that succeeds in what they describe they have attempted to do, and a high quality mix and production makes the album as a whole sound really good to. That being said, my overall impression is that this production will have a bit more of a niche appeal.

Conclusion.
If you tend to enjoy bands that mix it up a bit, and use elements from jazz, ambient music and post-rock when they do stir the pot just a little, then this instrumental album might be one that will intrigue you. A certain affection for compositions that hone in on specific details and explore them more in depth will probably be required to get the most out of this album, and much the same can be said about having an ear and a mind able to hear and appreciate the presence of beauty also in landscapes that come across as a bit more bleak in general nature. For those who can recognize themselves in such a description, chances are that this is an album that will give you plenty to enjoy.

Olav "Progmessor" Björnsen, October 2023

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/Aether.band.italy
https://www.facebook.com/OverdubRecordingsLabel/