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  • Genre:

    Electronic

  • Label:

    Kranky

  • Reviewed:

    July 31, 2015

What made Emeralds such a remarkable project when it peaked with 2010's Does It Look Like I'm Here? was that it didn't need to be greater than the sum of its parts, it was simply the work of three musicians at the height of their crafts. This also made the group's demise a bittersweet affair when it was announced in 2013; yes, it was sad to lose Emeralds, but we were simultaneously gaining the solo endeavors of three reinvigorated artists. Mark McGuire has always been the most prolific, and John Elliott's Spectrum Spools label is certainly the most varied. But Steve Hauschildt might be the most consistent ex-Emeralds member, a streak he continues onto his latest full-length for Kranky.-=-=-=-

The title track from Where All Is Fled precedes Hauschildt's new album, and it finds him tying fresh ideas into his familiar kosmiche inspirations. A striking, distant piano is the first sound heard in the piece, which sets an expected tone from the Cleveland synth specialist: downcast beauty haloed with an otherworldly glow. Hauschildt's simple lead single may belie his abilities with arrangement, movement, and structure, but it nonetheless accentuates how much he values nuance. As the decaying piano loop warbles and shines (with hints of William Basinski's masterful work, no less), woozy pads and pin-prick distortion quietly fill out the edges for an understated climax. It exists somewhere in the nebulous overlap of shoegaze, classical, and ambient music, all the while following that unmistakable thread of an artist who helped write one of the best synth albums in recent memory.