SE18 is littered with melodies that are as transient as they are memorable. It’s an album about a space, one that’s dear to its composers. The fifteen track ambient instrumental record is a homage to the area of London where the group of childhood friends grew up in. Combining live instrumentation and samples reflecting the widescreen of the view from Shooters Hill over London, or the spell-binding beautiful gloom of the Thames Estuary, it makes you feel the imagery that it’s evocative instrumentation builds to. The band describes their style as music to zone out to, to simply appreciate the nature around you, and to lull yourself to.
Ambient music is built on its ability to keep you moving forward. It’s never supposed to overwhelm you and take hold over whatever it is your doing, but rather to keep you level headed and mellow you to an absolute sense of calm. SE18 does that perfectly, allowing you to lock in and enjoy whatever you’re doing while their subtle and serene instrumentation puts everything in perspective. At the core of what they do, the guitar and fretless bass form the baseline of their sound. Most of the time, neither lend themselves to be particularly discernible, often playing together to create an atmospheric soundscape that evokes vivid imagery. On ‘Isle of Grain’ for instance, a heavy usage of static in the start gives way to the guitar to take central stage over a haunting backdrop.
On the album’s composition, the band notes: “Weaving memories together with visits back to the area and nearby we wanted to reflect the sound of memories of somewhere you used to be, but are no more. That said, we wanted to create something non-prescriptive, but suggestive enough that a listener can choose to drift into our world of imagining or overlay their own.”
Sometimes, you just want to drift away. Sometimes the world around you juts seems to close in every waking minute till you feel claustrophobic just staying awake. But most of the time, you never get the chance to just drop off. Music like SE18 gives you that opportunity, that feeling of relief and escape that can relieve you on your worst days. One of the best ambient projects I’ve heard.
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