The Closer We Are To Dying – Bleakness And Beauty In North Wales

Ombrelle Concrète

Artist and musician Terry Lane has formed The Closer We Are To Dying as a way of enabling him to reproduce emotions and feelings as soundscapes.

His latest album, Bleakness And Beauty In North Wales, evokes the solitude and temporality of life in a series of beautifully rendered yet distant pieces. Travelling all the way to North Wales to enable this musical experience is part of his journey and it feeds into the chilly grandeur of the seven drone-based selections.

The richness of the sounds produced is impressive; constant drones in series that echo the shimmer of cymbals and the whistle of the wind. In fact the opening track “Cwmystwyth” is like some pastoral acoustic variation on SunnO))); slow and drawn out, but highlighting textures that move through a cold, glistening landscape. The ability to render the play between light and shade and the passing of rain clouds in sound form really does bring to mind the feeling of being out in the elements.

The sharp piano note that is left to decay on “Cwm-y-glo” gives a harsher feel. The sounds move like ripples in a pond, coming apparently from nowhere and then receding beyond vision. The sporadic nature of the notes and the overlapping decay is different to the gentler tone of “Dog Walking In Blaenau Ffestiniog”. There is a broader palette here and it moves like a slow orchestral piece, a string-inflected solitude that is dusted with snow and blown by a flute-like wind.

The thing about these pieces as well is the more you listen, the more you discover the subtlest of background textures; two or three synth notes may arise from nowhere or tiny reflections like the cracks in ice that echo in a tunnel. All these secret winter sounds are uncovered and laid bare or, as on “Pyg”, shrouded in a misty sheath; the tolling bell damp with condensation sounds flat, but moves across the folded landscape, pockets of clarity opening up here and there.

“Tan Y Coed (Birdsongs And Pylons)” describes itself perfectly; a lower, more defined drone like the tone of an aeroplane moving through clouds. This simple soundscape changes the mood of the album slightly, putting a distance between the listener and the sounds, but the apparent static nature is belied by the slightest of textural details that that kind of refresh the overall experience.

The final piece, “View From The Top Of Snowdon On A Bright Clear Sunny Day”, does feel like a conclusion of sorts, a sweeping drama with an underlying cello like drift that tries to clear the mind and settle the heart, and sets itself slightly apart from this long, meandering journey. It somehow also helps to put into focus everything that has come before, leaving the listener satisfied but ready to go again. It also makes you eager to see these vistas for yourself, almost like an advert for the stunning, brooding landscape not that far from some of our doorsteps.

Ombrelle Concrète is an independent label run by three like-minded individuals who wish to draw attention to the kind of sound that provokes thought and opens the mind. Bleakness And Beauty In North Wales is a beautifully produced album and a great example of what the label has to offer. Thoroughly recommended.

-Mr Olivetti-