Yair Etziony — Ingress

Dark and brooding, Yair Etziony's latest, Ingress, is a grim, futuristic soundscape that picks up the mantle from his previous two releases since relocating to Berlin. Using analog oscillators, filters, and VCA's, Yair gives Ingress an older, comfortable feel instrumentally, while moving forward through the future with layers, drones, and sonic evolution. Recorded while he was ill and hospitalized twice, the darkness of situation, along with his normal themes of death, decay, and ruins is very prevalent in the music.

Spread over five lush tracks, Ingress is all about building and atmosphere, keeping it fluid, diverse, and intriguing, and using a deliberate pacing to unfold it for the listener. While most sweeping, cinematic soundscapes are more passive, Ingress feels like Yair Etziony is expressly leading the tour through this vivid, desolate landscape. The mix of highs in the opener, "Throbbing Coldness," ensure that the electronic fauna of this otherworldly sonic composition are unavoidable, and this adds a wonderful, vibrant touch to the scenery, along with the added benefit of sounds breaking free from the thick, shimmering layers that build the main landscape. The distinct tonal difference between the layers on Ingress works very well to make each pop and add a level of depth to the album that a lot of soundscapes tend to overlook. This vibrancy allows the listener to focus on multiple parts and makes for more intriguing repeat listens. Yair's choice of longer, slower, more deliberate oscillations add a sense of freedom to the album which allows the listener to sit, enjoy, and digest without being rushed. This works especially well when more cinematic moments come to the front, and the album takes on a much larger scope.

Yair Etziony's Ingress is a well constructed, intriguing soundscape that wonderfully utilizes its five tracks and every second of its run time. Although dark and foreboding, this album hides bright nuggets of hope, like rays of sun on a bleak winter day. His latest shows an excellent ear for lush soundscapes, and a wonderful direction for a talented musician.