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Don Tyler and Sean Costello are two of our most intuitive and innovative sonic stylists, and together form the duo Hinterland. Outland (57:54) is their third collaboration through the remote, trackless regions of contemporary Electronic Music. The eight daydreaming detours that occupy this release skillfully summon the subtle gradations of atmosphere and variations of tone and timbre expected of the soundscape genre. From a cold distant beauty to the warm quieting of the mind their carefully crafted realizations require the listener to venture into an area which lies beyond the familiar and known. In striking contrasts of color and scale Outland drifts its way among rapturous chords and intriguing synthesized scenes. With perfumed textures and moonlit harmonies on up to a vivid, vaporous, ethereal ambiance Tyler & Costello whisper a cosmic ambition. Each of these works, a singular flowing thought, asks us to tune into the quieter frequencies. Not quite meditative, nor vague, the peculiar pull of such ambient depths draws on a current of raw waveforms and resonant reverberations. Blended into rounded notes these humming vibrations resound with immediacy. Aurally animated, the sounds and tones on this album are pushed, pulled, coaxed and commanded to depict a domain of impending darkness. The contemplative effort required to engage with Outland will move the mind meaningfully. In this affirming ascent through beautifully chosen timbres and bewitching thought zones we drift and search a continent of uncharted lands. Across such meticulously designed arrangements the journey from one terrain to the next is an easy crossing. Entering a sonic realm where symbol and feeling matter as much as what the ear hears, we return from this secret place feeling energized and even more hopeful once back in our own.
- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END 12 June 2025 |
