The latest beautifully packaged release from the ever-reliable yet increasingly diverse micro label Courier is the four-track EP Silences‘ from south-east England-based duo of the same name, James Green and Nick Dawson. Intended as the first in an ongoing series, the recording took place on one day in Southend and the end result takes you far away from any obvious points of familiarity.
The difference between the four pieces represented here are substantial and the second, “Chem Trails Over Southend Pier”, is all about sustain, echo and decay. The piano droplets scattered about a heavenly drone evoke an abandoned room, charged with memories. It is so simple yet really affecting, its hesitant movement intercepting discordant strikes that change the mood again for track three “Shifting Emphases”, which really took me out of myself.
I found myself pondering what it would be like if you were in free fall for years and years, that feeling of weightlessness gradually becoming second nature until the descent was abruptly ended and you had to return to a life of slow, ungainly, land-based normality. How would you look back on that previous experience and what would soundtrack it? Huge sustain drifts on single notes as they decay and shatter around you, and as those notes change, it feels like the air pressure changing as you drift ever downward or sideways. Direction becomes meaningless as the notes surround you. It is immersive stuff and the transition between the third and final tracks is kind of lost in the overall swell of sensation. The Silences EP is an impressive and dynamic introduction to what we can only hope is a fruitful relationship. As ever with Courier, the attention to detail with the packaging is second to none, and the prints and type-written notes only add to the appeal of the package.-Mr Olivetti-
