Momentary Glow

Afonso Arrepia Ferreira worked on Momentary Glow, his third full-length as FARWARMTH, over the course of four years, and its source material is a series of improvisations recorded with friends and family as part of an artist residency in 2018. A bracing electro-acoustic work, the album is a dense, busy construction filled with fractured melodies and scathing distortion, all giving off a surreal, somewhat church-like aura. The acoustic instruments, including cello, flute, and accordion, are processed into vast, incandescent masses of broken light, sometimes giving the impression that a ghostly choir is present. The more glitch-heavy tracks, such as opener Shadows in the Air, progress in their own fashion without sticking to conventional rhythms, yet easily find their way to overwhelmingly emotional climaxes. There are also a few calmer, more nuanced moments, such as the more acoustic Into the Grey Sea or the wave-like currents of Sunlit Mirroring, which approximates a period of solemn, beachside reflection. But the more dramatic pieces, including the nine-minute conclusion Shadows Through Time, are nothing short of transcendent. This is devastatingly powerful music that looks to the cosmos in a tempestuous attempt to make sense of everything. ~ Paul Simpson