Balmorhea - Constellations

We called Balmorhea's last album, the sweeping All Is Wild, All Is Silent, "a cinematic opus that will make a welcome addition to the soundtrack of your life." Thanks to the inclusion of drums and songwriting contributions from all of the members, it is the band's most dynamic and diverse album to date. Follow-up Constellations is no less accomplished than its predecessor, but more subdued and ethereal. Where Wild's title and music were meant to evoke the immense physicality of the American West, Constellations draws its inspiration from the final frontier - the star formations and the myths they've inspired.

Like an astronaut on a space walk or a sailing ship at night, much of the album progresses as if in suspended animation. The arrangements are spare, with large stretches dedicated to solo instruments, and the pieces are langorous and low-key. Lyrics are absent; drones and repeated motifs abound. It's deceptively simple after the grand gestures of All Is Wild, but just as stars invisible to our direct scrutiny reveal themselves when seen in periphery, the exquisite details contained here emerge with repeated listenings, and not always when you'd expect. Balmorhea's future, if read in the portents of Constellations, looks very bright.

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Balmorhea - Bowsprit (From Constellations)