Some records are not meant for everyone. You could, in fact, argue that the more meaningful an album is, the more targeted and niche its audience will be. Perhaps it’s not the smartest choice, commercially speaking, but artistically, well it’s exactly what was expected. American ambient and electronica outfit Living Pictures are the perfect example of that. Their latest effort. ‘Crossing the Bridge’, is a musical endeavour that finds listeners at the right time, wrapping them in introspection and transformative energy. Then it spits them out, greatly enriched by the sonic experience. That worked for us, too.
Introduced by the ethereal and ambient-like gem ‘Persistent Dreams’, the record manifests itself with the utmost respect. Slow-evolving soundscapes greet us into a matryoshka of textures and glitchy percussions, encouraging feelings of nostalgia and melancholia. It feels as if we were finally able to rest, finding some peace and space for ourselves in an over-complicated reality. At a deeper look, that’s exactly what Reif Larsen and Andrew Perreault – the humans behind Living Pictures – were going for, the ability to escape their own mortal restrictions and explore the unthinkable.
As we are told, there’s a wonderful theme behind the album: “It is set in a frame narrative of a person putting on their headphones and riding the subway at night.” What follows is a collection of short bursts of different identities, a journey through the unconscious while observing the world passing by. Echoing the likes of Brian Eno, Nils Frahm, and Aphex Twin, among others, Living Pictures managed to release a record that feels intense, yet soothing: isn’t that what life often feels like?
Recommended! Discover ‘Crossing the Bridge’ on Spotify:
