‘Eyes Closed’ is a project that necessitates being experienced as its title demands. The wildly vivid and luscious soundscapes that Perttu Leinonen crafts are based on environments, an imagining of spaces that the listener can transport themselves too through what they feel and hear. It’s not an ambient project to play in the background, it’s one that needs to be in the absolute forefront of your concentration to wholeheartedly imbibe every little pitter patter, every strangely alien element, and each thundering percussive slap. No two tunes sound remotely alike, with each taking you on a unique sonic journey that could have you imagine entire forests, rivers, or concrete jungles.
Conceptually, the album is entirely based in this concept of meditation and introspection. Leinonen says, “It all started from a meditation practice where sound is only observed and not judged. That created the structure for the album. It starts by drawing the listener softly inward to the world of sound. No feelings were off, no sound was judged.” The project becomes an opus for Leinon’s own life, told through his musical vision and experiences.
The album begins with a much more ambient setting, with songs like ‘My Pleasure’ sonically animating emotions and scenarios of heavy downpour and trudging through wet and entangled terrain. But it’s in the latter half where it becomes almost spiritual and shamanic, with the over ten minute long pieces like ‘End Is Just a New Beginning’ incorporating hallowing and haunting vocals to create a daunting and eerie air. While there is cohesion between elements, there’s a slight cacophony as well; one that embraces a rather haphazard approach to stringing together seemingly disparate elements. The keys, growling sound, and static that prevails over ‘Midnight Hertz’ is one of the more sublime sections across the project.
If you’re looking to zone out from the reality around you and enter a dreamscape that takes you where it may, Eyes Closed is for you. The experimental instrumental dominant project from Perttu Leinone is a buffet of sounds that never once seem to stop intriguing you.