Chessa

The beauty behind Dan Abrams' Shuttle358 project has always been its ability to put a warmer face on a music often labeled as synthetic and cold. With Chessa, he not only successfully accomplishes his mission but takes it into territories where so many artists attempt to go but end up falling short. From the opening swells of "Ash," it's more than apparent that Abrams has all but shrugged off the academic notions behind microsound and gone for the heartstrings with warm synth washes and implied rhythms courtesy of chords entangled in one another, frantically trying to fade in and out of each other's paths. "Chessa" is an exercise in granulation and sifting through digital processed guitar strums that wouldn't feel out of place on a Thinkbox compilation. The glacial-paced calmness that is exhibited throughout the duration of Chessa reaches an apex in "Logical," which is far too short for potentially blissful ideas to come to their fruition. These are songs that are painstakingly gorgeous in their rendering, ones that call for microscopic, painstaking detail and an infinite amount of patience just to get the balance right. It's without reservation that this mission is accomplished. ~ Rob Theakston