Though novel is not really the right word, for it reintroduces some vestige of creative drive that Erik Griswold on Next Level Avoidance, clearly lacks. Not because he is devoid of skill or training, just the opposite; productivity is a two-way street. This means that there is a muffled, stifled, even, beauty to Next Level Avoidance, not because it is holding something back that we then as listeners fulfill via our auditory engagement. No, this applies to countless other works, but Griswold really is nearing the end, of something. Sparse and elegiac, the album flaunts its finality with aplomb, using simple phrasing to coax just enough sonic material to occupy the space of a recording, without triumph or achievement as a goal.

 

It's not all acoustic, and on tracks like "Colours of Summer", the electronics shine, an exception that proves the rule. "Uncertainty" is a manifesto for the beleaguered, and marches forward sans confidence or determination. The final track, "X-Mode", uses brief, repetitive arpeggios to signal something perhaps more hopeful, or, at the very least, hits at a work filled with something other than enervation. Yes, the synthesizer saves the day, it would seem, though toward the final seconds of this concluding cut, things start to spiral out of control and the saving power of the electronic keyboard quickly becomes a case of technology run amok. The instruments are front and center in a way that pays tribute to their potential, but the motivation to craft something transformative from them is blinkered at best.

 

Fans of new music with a bit of synth thrown in the salad bowl will probably appreciate the level of care that went into producing an album that is not entirely sure how it got here. Others, who might share an affinity for just being over it, could potentially have their summer soundtrack in Next Level Avoidance. To indulge