UK-based electronic producer / multi-instrumentalist Gavin Miller has been active amongst the post-rock and ambient scenes for the last 15 years as one-half of the bands Ghosting Season and worriedaboutsatan, but he’s also a prolific solo artist in his own right, having released three albums and a slew of EP releases (most through his own This Is It Forever label) over the last five years.
This latest EP ‘Shimmer’ offers up his debut release for Greek label Sound In Silence, and its six tracks see Miller leaving the beats and rhythms behind in favour of dreamy soundscapes constructed around treated guitar, hazy synth drones, piano chords and murky vocal samples. ‘Part 1’ gives good indication of the languid unhurried pace at play here, as warm steel guitar bends slowly unfurl themselves into delayed-out layers of intersecting melody against a spectral wash of droning background ambience, the clean plucked guitar tones introducing a vaguely Lynchian retro undertone.
Whilst split into distinctly individual thematic sections, the tracks here more or less flow continuously into one another, with ‘Part 2’ taking a turn into distinctly more melancholic waters, the plucked guitar chords taking on a more weary and resigned feel against twinkling electronics, phased murmuring electronic tones and the spacious wash of background static. ‘Part 3’ meanwhile sees icily elegant minimalist piano arrangements introducing sense of foreboding that’s accentuated by the ominous bass chords and eerie minor-key drones.
Elsewhere, ’Part 4’ sees a hazily reverbed female vocal sample looping wordlessly against vast swelling sub-bass tones and church organ-like droning keys, the delicate guitar chords that spiral towards the forefront during the track’s second half offering the most solid and tangible presence amidst the vaporous mix. A suitably mesmerising listen from Miller, the aptly titled ‘Shimmer’ is well worth investigation.
