Helsinki has pushed out a fertile crop of electronic music and while Exogenic Breaks has concentrated predominately on psychedelic trance music, this is of a different flavour. The Braille is a distinctly composed album that incorporates classical, jazz, rock and pop instrumentation fused with electronic elements and intricate programming.
The album begins with ‘Lite House’, a combination of electronics, acoustic guitar and metallophone that moves at a breezy pace with a deft touch and an optimistic palette. ‘Gone’ introduces vocal elements; violins, viola, cello and a sound that moves towards orchestral electronica that is not out of place in comparison to a slightly glitched out Coldplay. ‘Everything you said was lead’ is more of a description of that statement in four and a half minutes. Dark and dank, it plays out instruments against each other in a mournful effect that elicits a picture of the overall grim conglomeration of words as a template for the deadening mood. It is electronica meets instrumental jazz, with trumpet as lead voice and ominous grand piano building to a crescendo that almost promises a breakthrough then pulls back at the last moment.
‘Answers’ highlights vocals – this is full blown electronic ballad area that may translate to the popular realm that it seeks if only the lyrics were of value rather than existential angst wrapped up in gloss. ‘Whisper Tree’ is an obvious overblown psytrance number disturbing the sense of the album but providing fodder for the freaks on the forest floor. ‘Brown Eyed Susan’ retrieves the feel with a clear psychedelic whirl amongst well healed jazz tones and compositional timing that exudes a dramatic touch. Title track ‘The Braille’ outros the album with fuzzed out glitch and bright melancholic dystopia that builds into an instrumental symphonic vocal ballad before full blown power rock blows away the discrete instrumentation for the sake of a sonic wall.
The Braille is an immaculately well made album; its composition and programming are smooth and meticulous and it shows adventure beyond the familiar realms that are pushed out by Exogenic Breaks. That Keramick & Lobo doff the proverbial hat to psytrance disturbs the overall feel of the album, but beyond that, and a tendency for them to move towards melancholy which exudes a beauty with their touch, The Braille is a bright tone for the ear.
Innerversitysound
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