Fennesz – Seven Stars (Touch, 2011)
It has been quite a while since the last full-length release by Fennesz. The last proper solo release he did was The Black Sea from 2008. This album was pure bliss so you can understand how I feel after 3 years of waiting to get a new proper release.
This time not a full-length but an EP with a total of 4 pieces.Seven Stars starts out with Liminal, which is very much in the line of The Black Sea. It has this eerie melodic guitars combined with granular electronic processing. It has this hidden shoegaze feeling which is relaxing and fuzzy. Very inspiring song which shows interesting development of sound.
In the second piece July, Fennesz takes a different approach. The focus turns into the drone area. It is much more Venice area than The Black Sea in this sense. There is still the warm fuzzy sound that seems to be his trademark. It is a nice piece but doesn’t grab as much as his more melodic side.
On the flip side we find two other tracks, starting with Shift. Again a droning piece, with a bit more depth for me, but still not one that grabs a lot. It really takes time to grow. It containst oozing organ like drones which slowly shift, like the name says, from frequency to frequency.
The last piece. Seven Stars, is quite a drift away from the other ones, with Steven Hess on drums. It is a very lush piece, kind of romantic. It is even for Fennesz very melodic and soft and pretty much unlike any of his other work. This is a nice change for once, but hope it is not a sign for his next full-length album.
Seven Stars is a nice EP, though more for the fans than to win new hearts.
Listen and buy Seven Stars here http://touchshop.org/product_info.php?cPath=11&products_id=468
