Minneapolis-based project Emerald Suspension unveil a hauntingly atmospheric spaciousness throughout Sounds to Hear Alone, their fifth full-length album. The songs here take inspiration from their multiple releases of short-form videos and multimedia over the past couple years; these often bore music and other recordings, justifying further exploration in the audible space — resulting in the intriguingly magnetic Sounds to Hear Alone.
A dark, contemplative quality lingers throughout the production, ranging in tone from the unsettling escalation of buzzing within “Grackle” to the gentle, dreamy synth-pad haunts of “Place and Time.” Mechanical, industrial effects often linger underneath, lending a uniquely impactful quality, as in “Place and Time.” Drone and noise pursuits succeed throughout, bolstered by textural evolution. The opener “Alone” sends chills with its processional vocal qualities, and thereafter the instrumentation and sampling takes greater hold.
The laughter-like samples within “Felix : Fritz” and the helicopter-esque whirring of “Futurity” are among the delectably unsettling production choices, embracing glitchy prevalence and elegant subtleties alike. Sounds to Hear Alone is a wholly impactful listening experience from Emerald Suspension.
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“Place and Time” and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Best of October 2023’ Spotify playlist.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup, as part of the artist’s promotional campaign.
