Unseen Forces

Justin Walter

Kranky

The Michigan-based trumpeter unveils his beautiful, distinctive and experimental second album with Chicago indie label Kranky. Four years on from his debut album Lullabies & Nightmares, the new record is a full-length exploration of the EVI, (Electronic Valve Instrument) a rare wind-controlled ’70s analogue synth. Walter loops the EVI’s hazy range of textures and adds quiet electronics to build improvised soundscapes and sampled manipulations, providing the backbone of the entire record. Those soundscapes are highly immersive and full of emotion. Opaque tones, pastel watercolours and hazy, dreamy atmospheres drift along with an ethereal glow.

Fragile, delicate, yet ingrained with a central force of energy, Unseen Forces is a dense and highly textured masterstroke of improvisation. Walter’s jazz-like explorations create a record that feels free, uninhibited and beautifully organic, yet weighted by strong emotions and feelings. The smeared tones and wafting melodies blur the lines between memory and timeless emotion, making for a compelling and totally inimitable sophomore album.

ADD THESE TO YOUR PLAYLIST: Unseen Forces, Soft Illness| It’s Not What You Think| 8/10