False Readings On

A brilliant ambient album that I discovered a few years ago, utterly forgot, and then rediscovered this month while I was wrapping up the two-weeks-notice at my job.

I think there are two levels at which a successful ambient album can operate. The first, essential prerequisite for a good ambient album is that it creates atmosphere. If an ambient album doesn't create atmosphere, there is no reason for it to exist. The second, higher level at which an ambient album can operate is if it creates a convincing emotional arc. Without words or even melody, the great ambient album takes us on a walk through a series of landscapes with clearly defined moods. This is the genius of an artist like Ian William Craig or Stars of the Lid.

False Reading On's opening track makes it clear immediately: this is an album that can create emotion. All the instruments appear to be swooning. Some ambient artists create emotion through crisp, clear sounds (think Philip Glass). Eluvium is the opposite, steering into muddy waters, and proves that this approach can work, too. Eluvium never produces any music that is unsettling, which is perhaps not to his credit. His music is beautiful to a fault. But much of the beauty is derived from harmonic dissonance, or from countermelodies that push against each other, so the album succeeds in creating a variety of moods.

Like many of my favorite ambient artists, Eluvium uses pure, angelic human voices. Where Ian William Craig uses a single human voice, Eluvium uses a choir. No one voice or personality is distinct, which matches his aesthetic--a smooth, muddy blend of sound.

When I first listened to this album, I felt somewhat that it was "easy listening." In the years that have followed, I've realized how rare it is to find an album that sounds like this. It's true that Eluvium's music doesn't dig a dagger into my heart, but it does transport me to an elevated emotional state. And isn't that the whole point of art?

The dissonant parts of False Readings On don't try to create a mood that is sad or heartbreaking. Instead, Eluvium tries to communicate what it would feel like if you had an experience that was so ecstatic that it overwhelmed you. The last track is the best example of this--"Posturing Through Metaphysical Collapse" becomes dissonant and loud, but remains triumphant.

Anyway, I don't really have advice for listening to this album. It gets off to a spectacular start, so just begin there. Thank goodness I gave this one another shot.