Menu | Rating System | Guest Book | Archived Reviews:
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

         
      image  
         
 
Recording:
  Atlas
 
 
Artist:
  Robin Guthrie
 
 
Label:
  self-released  
 
Release Date:
  19.July.2024  
 
Reviewed by:
  PostLibyan  
         
 
Rating:
   
         
 
Review:
 

I make no excuses for my fandom of Robin Guthrie. His early work with Cocteau Twins in the 1980s opened my eyes to the possibilities of sound, and his solo work since 2003 has intrigued me and provide me with lots of calm listening.

Atlas is his latest EP, and comes to us three years (!) after his last album. So what has changed? Well, not much to be honest. Oh, sure, this isn't exactly the same as his previous releases, but it not like he has suddenly started doing thrash metal or something. No, this is four new tracks of meandering guitar and mellow tones.

The title track kicks us off mellow and cinematic, guitar floating along with some sparse piano. Very lovely and light, just a floating haze. He adds in some new wavish keyboards on Metropol, the keys droning under a guitar that whirrs like the soundtrack to Bladerunner. It gets really loud and dense in the middle of the track.

Without a Word reminds me of Imperial, his first solo record. The front guitar layer is loud and sparkling, positively glistening over some light rhythm.

The final track, La Perigrina, starts off quietly with some organ, but slowly grows into a traditional song with drumming, some bass, and a great guitar part. This is a really good tune to wrap things up with.

So this is a cool EP of interesting music, but it is so short! All four tracks barely fill twelve minutes. It seems that lately Guthrie releases a lot of these really short things, and they are pretty, but i long for him to try something longer, to stretch out his ambient chops.

But, well, he is following his vision. And I have been following his journey for … well, almost 40 years. So I trust in the process, and am willing to go wherever he takes us next.

But really, if you haven't heard anything from Mr. Guthrie before, well, this is a good entry point of solid tunes.

 
         
 
Related Links:
 

https://robinguthrie.bandcamp.com/album/atlas-ep
https://www.facebook.com/robinguthrieofficial/
https://robinguthrie.com/
Also on EvilSponge:
   Album: Imperial
   Soundtrack (with Harold Budd): Mysterious Skin
   Soundtrack: 3:19
   Album (with John Foxx): Mirrorball
   EP: Angel Falls
   Album: Carousel
   Album (with Harold Budd): Bordeaux
   Soundtrack (with Harold Budd): White Bird In a Blizzard
      see also: Cocteau Twins
      see also: Violet Indiana

 
         

Return to the top of this page. | Return to the Album Review menu.