Infinity is the new release by Melbourne-based Leo James, and the second Patience production. Leo scratches a longstanding itch and delivers two sidelong excursions that inhabit a similar sonic space but spin off in opposite directions on the continuum.
Desert Nightflower hums with vitality in a seemingly lifeless landscape. Impressionistically tracing the lifecycle of a flower’s bloom in the desert night – from the searing afternoon sun through dusk’s chill, the midnight blossoming and symbiotic relationship with travelling bats, through the blue hour comedown to first light – Leo employs vibrant, buzzing electronics, plaintive strings and levitating clarinet to illustrate beauty’s brief conquest of nature’s harshest environment, with vividly evocative and deftly moving results.
After Desert Nighflower floats completely off the grid, an ever-present kickdrum drives Infinity’s near 20-minute trip into timelessness. Sharing Side A’s subliminal synthesised hum and free-form clarinet, Infinity moves fast and firm down a dub techno dirt road towards the end of time. As elements drop in and out of the mix, Infinity builds momentum to a pulsing, cathartic peak of poignant piano, ethereal keys and lucid clarinet expressions.
As an avid nature enthusiast, spatial awareness looms large in Leo’s work. His solo releases on Berceuse Heroique, Neubau and his own label Body Language have been inspired incarnations of techno, EBM, industrial and wave.
credits
released June 10, 2019
Written, recorded and mixed by Leo James.
Clarinet by Tarquin Manek.
Mastered by Wouter Brandenburg at Brandenburg Mastering.
Art and design by Luca Schenardi.
If Bruce Springsteen ever made an album called "Born To Ambient" it would probably contain all of these tracks. Keith is just sublime, I could (and have) listened to it on loop for hours. BrianMc
Wistful and curious guitar contemplations reminiscent of Durutti Column.
The physical release with a collection of Hiett’s fashion photography sets the scene so tastefully, too. Charlie Moonbeam
A compilation spanning a number of vital underground sounds from India raises money for nonprofits helping with COVID relief on the ground. Bandcamp New & Notable May 25, 2021
It’s so hard to choose among so many golden tracks, but if you listen deeply to “Dancing In July” you’ll notice the high notes (perhaps constituting a type of chorus), growing and evolving, then starting at around the 2:18 mark finally bending forward to reach a more fully acknowledged melody (& one of the most beautiful in the entire record, I might add), only to peel back at the last second. Really nice. blayze hembree