Cast

Heathered Pearls, the moniker of producer Jakub Alexander, progressed from textural, emotionally evocative ambient sounds on 2012 debut Loyal into more rhythmically informed tracks on subsequent releases. Third album Cast pushes Alexanders vision forward yet again, not just by dialing back drum sounds to make more space for implied rhythmic impressions and negative space, but by introducing the element of spoken word to a handful of tracks. Alexanders slow-blooming instrumentals make up the majority of the album, with tracks like Caveat Emptor and Pain Tolerance expertly arranging steadily shifting flows of sub-bass and overlapping cinematic loops and sequences. The beat-free nature of these tracks makes them appear wide open, but actually disguises the complexity of their construction. The romantic, sometimes maudlin character of the earliest Heathered Pearls material has matured on Cast, with brief interlude-length pieces like Faith for the Weak and Utica hinting faintly at emotional undercurrents before evaporating, breaking up the murky, distant demeanor that marks much of the album. The several tracks that include audio of spoken word emphasize how much more cerebral and complex Cast feels compared to early chapters of Alexanders work. The warm but weary loops of Basic Needs underscore what sounds like a spoken diary entry or verbalized letter from Nick Murphy, the artist once known as Chet Faker. Murphys disjointed thoughts mirror the dreamlike swim of the instrumental, drifting calmly with no need for an implicit conclusion. On What Else Do You Want?, one of the albums few beat-driven songs, Baltra talks about separating art from the artist, and elsewhere on Cast, Danny Scales, Terrence Dixon, and Krzysztof Wodiczko all contribute spoken pieces that range from poetic recitations to casual reflections. Heathered Pearls moody atmospheres grow deeper and more intricate on Cast, and Alexander utilizes the spoken word elements sparingly enough to fit them tastefully into the albums larger emotional statement. Its an enormous step forward for the project, managing to maintain the floating formlessness required of the best ambient music while at the same time being the most thoughtful, challenging, and personality-rich music Heathered Pearls has made up until this point. ~ Fred Thomas