Liberez - All Tense Now Lax
| Artist: | Liberez |
| Rating: | |
| Genres: | Avant-Folk, Experimental, Industrial Dark Ambient |
| Released: | 2015 |
| Type: | Album |
| Label: | Night School |
| Link: | Bandcamp |
Hermetically sealed and reveling in tumult, All Tense Now Lax is the most significant and developed work yet forged by Liberez. Based in main orchestrator John Hannonʼs remote studio No Recordings in Rayleigh, England, Liberez have expanded their palette from previous outings on Alter to produce a perfectly engineered machine that consumes the beholder....
A tense, gut-wrenching listen wrought with carefully considered space, the range of techniques and the depth of atmosphere is staggering. All Tense Now Lax never settles on a simple depiction of dread, foreboding or anxiety but layers textures upon rhythms to produce towering minarets of conflicting emotion. _Захвална породица (translated “Grateful Family”) is a case in point: Hannonʼs wailing violin is torn across collaborator Nina Bosnicʼs lyric, while a loping beat is crushed with distortion. Indeed, a more pronounced focus on rhythm and movement on Liberezʼ 3rd album is perhaps what sets it apart from previous work. Centerpiece Grease The Axles showcases Hannonʼs technique of detourning from other cultures to dramatically altered effect. A lopsided rhythm and scraped violin are torn to breaking point: what starts off as a Moondog-esque tap at a train station ends with the train in flames. Liberezʼ brutality is not as literal as this all the time: on How Much For Your Brother an aggressively over-driven vocal loop is hammered into the stereo field by primitive percussion courtesy of drummer Pete Wilkins, but the overall effect is one of movement and hypnosis. A Rebetika melting into night- terror. The title track, meanwhile, presents a premature eulogy, coming halfway through what is an all-consuming album of frightening power.
John Hannonʼs breadth of technical mastery on All Tense Now Lax is never fully revealed in an ostentatious way. Instead the album is allowed to breathe and evolve, with field recordings, industrial patterns and alienated instrumentation woven together seamlessly. A tumultuous experience which transports rather than grounds the participant.
released July 24, 2015
A tense, gut-wrenching listen wrought with carefully considered space, the range of techniques and the depth of atmosphere is staggering. All Tense Now Lax never settles on a simple depiction of dread, foreboding or anxiety but layers textures upon rhythms to produce towering minarets of conflicting emotion. _Захвална породица (translated “Grateful Family”) is a case in point: Hannonʼs wailing violin is torn across collaborator Nina Bosnicʼs lyric, while a loping beat is crushed with distortion. Indeed, a more pronounced focus on rhythm and movement on Liberezʼ 3rd album is perhaps what sets it apart from previous work. Centerpiece Grease The Axles showcases Hannonʼs technique of detourning from other cultures to dramatically altered effect. A lopsided rhythm and scraped violin are torn to breaking point: what starts off as a Moondog-esque tap at a train station ends with the train in flames. Liberezʼ brutality is not as literal as this all the time: on How Much For Your Brother an aggressively over-driven vocal loop is hammered into the stereo field by primitive percussion courtesy of drummer Pete Wilkins, but the overall effect is one of movement and hypnosis. A Rebetika melting into night- terror. The title track, meanwhile, presents a premature eulogy, coming halfway through what is an all-consuming album of frightening power.
John Hannonʼs breadth of technical mastery on All Tense Now Lax is never fully revealed in an ostentatious way. Instead the album is allowed to breathe and evolve, with field recordings, industrial patterns and alienated instrumentation woven together seamlessly. A tumultuous experience which transports rather than grounds the participant.
released July 24, 2015
Editions:
2015
Original Release
Night School
| LSSN031
| CD/Digital/Vinyl
| 01. | ---Of Milk | (1:22) | |
| 02. | Захвална Породица | (5:15) | |
| 03. | 419 Chop Your $ | (4:34) | |
| 04. | All Tense Now Lax | (6:40) | |
| 05. | Grease the Axles | (4:18) | |
| 06. | Subotica | (1:37) | |
| 07. | How Much for Your Brother | (4:10) | |
| 08. | Stop Your Breathing | (6:15) | |
| 09. | ---Of Blood | (3:47) |