TO WHERE WINGS RUST is the latest album by electronic musician Shye, released February 2021. After a fairly meteoric ascent with last year's OBSCURA, where does Shye find themselves on TO WHERE WINGS RUST?
TWWR, from the get go, has a fairly clear goal in mind- the pastel album cover and the lightly reverbed bell sounds that open the album give a pretty solid indication as to what this record is going for; and as more elements of the opener creep in, the tone changes and mutates with these glitching electronic elements. The track perfectly slips into the 2nd track REINCARNATE which continues this blissful but technologically augmented soundscape. Nothing really steals the foreground until this highspeed ringing sound and piano chords take centre stage, which gives way to these simple but beautiful and introspective piano riffs. The track slowly starts opening up with the inclusion of this cool synth tone and more background ambiance. It's simple yet beautiful, like the record doesn't want to completely reveal itself immediately.
SCIRA'S COVE picks up from the quiet ending of the last track with more pristine piano ambient and electronics that evoke the production on Bjork's Vespertine (Frosti specifically) before transitioning seamlessly into GATE which has this electronic loop that sounds like a spaceship failing to launch or something, surrounded by these quietly clinking and shuffling background electronics. This track is really impressive just from a production perspective; the sounds made here are just otherworldly, and the way they build across the track really adds to the overall feeling too. The end of the track reminds me of Sweet Trip a bit too, which is cool.
HEART OF MECHANA kicks off the second half of the record, still very much existing in this piano- led introspective glitchy soundscape. It's quietness and relatively low audio impact really exemplifies a feeling of weightlessness. Rogue elements feel like they're trying to break in, but they never do, they're cut off before they're allowed to spoil the tranquility. The track's transition to PRISMATIC GHOSTS is hard to catch if you aren't looking for it, and introduces what sounds like some plucked strings on a guitar or a harp maybe, and when it's joined by more bells and piano creates a real feeling of innocence which is kind of slowly discoloured by these processing electronic sounds that kind of slowly intrude into the track; and eventually entirely take it over, which leads to this kind of flattened and rusted (see what I did there?) soundscape.
HURRIED - FLOAT IN DEWDROPS has a sense of urgency suggested by the track's name with it's slightly anxious sounding synth sound and high speed piano notes, before seemingly dozing off to sleep to allow the last track, the 9 minute QUIET to begin.
QUIET starts as the name would suggest, with this hushed looping feedback and slow Eno- esque piano motifs, and disembodied and reversed musical phrases hanging around. It evokes Eno albums like Evening Star as well as Thursday Afternoon, and shows a plentiful willingness to ponder on a mood or a feeling and really explore everything it might have to offer. The piano keys have a real weight to them now that they're given space to breath in the otherwise sparse atmosphere too. The keys are eventually electronically scrubbed out, and you hear them glitching and cracking as they're slowly removed which just leaves this mournful ambiance and oscillating radio feedback. The track creates a feeling of quiet optimism in it's last few minutes before the record slowly fades out.
So yeh, it's safe to say I had a good time with this album. Shye fairly explicitly states that their music exists as a form of escapism and this album definitely provides that- for half an hour or so you're definitely being transported to a world far, far way from our own, and with the near seamless flow between the tracklist you're allowed to just exist there with minimal interruption. Definitely worth checking out for fans of ambient and electronic music, but I think it's worth saying that there isn't a beat or percussion track for the whole album so if that puts you off then it may not be for you, but otherwise, a really really good album. Check it out!
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