As on
Equivalents
, with
Clara
Loscil
's
Scott Morgan
takes a break from the environmentally inspired works he's done frequently and so well (and returned to with 2020's EP and book project Faults, Coasts, Lines). After translating the photography of
Alfred Stieglitz
into
' gorgeously dappled reflections on creativity, this time
Morgan
's artistic process is more abstracted and involved. A set of pieces celebrating the properties of light,
began as a short composition recorded by a string orchestra, pressed on vinyl, distressed, and then sampled and reconfigured by
. While the album's source material is somewhat different than usual, the results are still unmistakably
. Even when he evokes light, he doesn't make predictable choices. On "Vespera" -- that's Latin for "evening star" -- a luminous melody hovers almost subliminally in the background instead of front and center where another, less creative composer might put it. Nor is
typically bright or sunny sounding, but on pieces like the delicately rippling and refracting "Lumina" and the softly undulating "Lux,"
cleverly expresses light as particles, waves, and a thing of poetic beauty. While the potential for electronically morphing sounds is nearly infinite,
's palette is a tightly edited blend of the drones familiar to
fans and hints of the work's orchestral roots; the album's title track combines both of these, as well as choir-like voicings, into something truly majestic. Elsewhere, "Orta"'s whispering and hissing textures and serene pulses make for one of the work's most surprisingly pretty moments, while "Sol"'s woozy, bending tones evoke a magnificent corona of heat. Despite, or perhaps because of its restraint,
expresses a wide array of moods.
creates a gorgeous contrast between "Stella"'s sub bass and a tremulous high end that twinkles like starlight, and he later conjures an awe-inspiring radiance with "Aura." On solemn, dignified pieces such as "Lucida," which has the slow sweep of a lighthouse's beacon,
captures not just the light but the darkness surrounding it, giving the album a depth and moodiness that harks back to
Sea Island
and
Monument Builders
. A beautifully nuanced work,
is both revealing and mysterious -- and
fans wouldn't expect anything less. ~ Heather Phares