Half Mirror＜限定盤＞

温かい電子音とひっそり確かに唄う作風はアカデミックさを感じさせる!

大学時代に数学研究と電子楽器で曲作り、その後シンセサイザーのメッカMOOG社に入社し、製造や調整を担当...と電子音作家としてデビューする為の人生だったのでは!?と言いたくなるMATTHEW O'CONNELL。CHORUSING名義でデビュー作『HALF MIRROR』をリリースし、さらに加速する!

"WATCHING THE BEAMS"で多用される自作シンセの温かくも哀愁がある旋律とひっそりしっぽりなボーカルが絡みミニマルに展開する構成は、CHORUSINGが目指す電子音フォークの旨味な部分!ベーシストで同じくWESTERN VINYLから作品をリリースしているELEPHANT MICAHが参加し、山中に立ち込める霧を表現したという朧気な空気感を出すことに成功!

ARTHUR RUSSELLからもインスピレーションを受けたという本作は、アカデミックな経歴を鮮やかに音にしつつ電子音と人が合体し温もりを感じさせる音も混ぜた、色々な方向から楽しめる1枚!!

A native of Indiana, songwriter/producer Matthew OConnell was at various times an active member of the punk/hardcore scene of Louisville, Kentucky, attached to the Kitchen Budapest collective in Europe, and an employee of Moog Music in Asheville, North Carolina before compiling his decade-in-the-making solo debut under the moniker Chorusing. A technician during his time at Moog, he calibrated and built synthesizers and tested analog delay chips as part of his day job. Completed later at his home in Raleigh, North Carolina, the resulting Half Mirror incorporates custom analog synths and tape delay as well as guitar as its central components -- nearly always in sparse, languid contexts. A meditative, folk-mannered work, Half Mirror opens with the quasi-instrumental Cold, which introduces OConnells intimate, ethereal vocals as an instrument alongside echoing, free-rhythm guitar atmospheres and moaning effects. Nature and reflection also serve as inspiration for what follows on a set of soulful, more structured songs with titles like Blue Ridge, Midday Sun, and Whitewaterside. Where Chorusing excels, however, is on experimental-leaning tracks best represented here by Watching the Beams and Billowing, which affect with a distorted mix of organic and inorganic textures alongside more of the albums melancholic folk song. While the staggered delay effects, arpeggiated tonal loops, and pulsing mechanical vibrations -- and eventually rare beats -- take Watching the Beams to a next-level psychedelic state, the track remains spacious and hypnotic in nature, fitting in with even the more monochromatic segments of the album, like elegant guitar closer Mirror. Dreamy, desolate, and moving throughout, Half Mirror ultimately impresses with its restraint. ~ Marcy Donelson