Songs of Silence

After over 40 years as the driving engine behind bands ranging from short-lived endeavors to enduring U.K. hitmakers Erasure -- a time span thats included the release of dozens of his remixes and sideline experiments with collaborators like Martyn Ware and Martin Gore -- synth pop pioneer Vince Clarke presents his first solo album, Songs of Silence. At once hypnotic and adventurous, its a set of mostly instrumental, ambient-leaning tracks, although far from homogeneous. Work on the album began during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Clarke finally had the chance to experiment with Eurorack, an agile modular synthesizer format, in his studio. He made two rules for himself for these trials: the sounds had to come solely from Eurorack (he would make exceptions to this for the album cut), and each track had to adhere to a single key. He wasnt thinking of sharing any of the results at the time; it was Erasures label, Mute, that encouraged him to release an album. Some of the records more ambient offerings include the drony opener, "Cathedral," which features slowly rising swells of shimmery tones over sustained bass notes. It also includes what sounds like spoken-word radio transmissions that dissipate seconds after being introduced. Other tracks under this general umbrella include the descriptively titled "Imminent" and the murkier "Passage," which features wordless, operatic vocals and late-arriving industrial percussion. Alternately, tracks like "White Rabbit" and "Mitosis" have bleepy, computer-like timbres and looped rhythms, with "Scarper" arguably being the closest thing to an actual club track here, with its relatively steady four-on-the-floor, additional tonal rhythms, and trance-like shimmer. While all ten tracks are somewhat muted and reflective in character, relative outliers include the expressive cello piece "The Lamentations of Jeremiah," which features Reed Hays cello over Clarkes Eurorack drone, and folktronica entry "Blackleg," which is based on the mid-19th century pro-union folk song "Blackleg Miner." "Last Transmission" closes Songs of Silence on an ominous note, with a scrambled sample cutting through layers of spacy sustain. Even considering its modest ambitions, its probably not a surprise that Songs of Silence showcases instincts and inventiveness well beyond that of your typical synth-instrumentals diversion. ~ Marcy Donelson