Review: Marielle V Jakobsons ‘The Patterns Lost To Air’
In a time where the whole world seems to be completely losing its head, more than ever, now we turn to things as an escape from it all. For some its gaming, for others it’s pursuits such as reading or films and television, but for me, it has always been music.
I love to be taken away by something new and dreamlike whenever I feel like it’s all getting a bit much, and thankfully, today I think I’ve found the perfect accompaniment to my World-weary mind, in the shape of the magnificent The Patterns Lost To Airby Marielle V Jakobsons.
It’s a truly majestical opus of transcendental sonnets, sculpted in a delicate and yet all-embracing way, where each individual track is a whole experience in its own right. Weighing in at nearly forty minutes, the seven tracks wash over the listener as if time bears no relevance. There is a weightless, yet emotionally calming vibe to each piece, and even when some of the track’s titles may nudge you into a context for the piece, if you fully submerge yourself into each mini embrace, you will find yourself drifting towards a lighter, more serene platform for sure.
There is an eclectic grace to the whole affair, and considering that the album has been released by Thrill Jockey, a label that I’ve known up to this point for The Body and BIG|BRAVE and aren’t known for their soothing sonnets, this discovery has been a truly enlightening one.
It’s incredibly hard to fully articulate a creation such as this because, short of saying ‘it’s beautiful’, a mere description does not do it justice. It’s the same as the adage of ‘a picture paints a thousand words’, but here its aurally, as if the brush strokes are the swathes of sound, gently cascading across space and time.
It isn’t a ‘full band sound’ either. It’s been composed using a host of alternative instruments, such as strings, synthesisers, and piano, to create these lavish moments. While this is what you might expect from such an arrangement, the album still retains a very minimalist feel.
Tracks such as these could easily make their way onto ambient Spotify playlists. You know the sort – the slumber or relaxation collections designed to ease your mood and gently let you drift away at the end of a long, tiring day. The difference here, however, is that this album deserves to stand proudly above such playlists. It should be appreciated in its own right as a standalone work of art.
as if the brush strokes are the swathes of sound, gently cascading across space and time…
Looking closer at the album, the titles for each track should be the first indicator of what you would hope to expect. As I said earlier, they should give a glimpse, a suggestion, but beyond that, it is on you, the listener, to draw your own conclusions to each wonderful movement.
Looking across them, we have Warm Spring, Without You Inside Time and Before The Air Remembers, all of which would invoke thoughts of moments of time from your own existence. Perhaps it would be the end of winter on Warm Spring, or Without You Inside Time could have you reminiscing for a lost love? Not so much anything powerful or overwhelming, but more a little inflexion for a time now gone, and a memory for a love lost. Before the Air Remembersconjures up thoughts of the end of summer, before autumn arrives, and the warm air is replaced by a cooler breeze.
Elsewhere, tracks such as Everything Lost Remains and Insistence give way to feelings of events, times or people, and the feelings you got from those situations. There’s a moment for reflection, and how we feel within ourselves. No matter which track is playing, if you allow yourself to step back and let Marielle take you away on these mystical journeys, you will be rewarded with a warm, rich glow inside. For a lot of people, I imagine this is a level of indulgence they have rarely allowed themselves before.
For all of my 51 years on this planet, it has only been maybe the last decade when I have calmed my thoughts, and given in to such ambient beauty sonically, as I have found on this album. I have been that feisty teenager, where it was all about loud and shouty. I’ve been that moody adult, listening to emotionally charged, angst-ridden songs about the human experience, and feelings of love, loss and rejection, until I’ve wept.
Now I’m that guy who takes solace in music; it’s my second home, my safe place, and my haven to unburden my thoughts. It’s albums such as this, VLMV, and Jo Quail where I spend my ‘unburdening’, a safe, warm home, just for me, where I can truly be at one with the universe.
If you ever feel like you need to escape, it’s beautiful places such as this where you should travel to. Ultimately, we all need to step back, life’s too much a lot of the time, and the parallel is a far lovelier place.
Label: Thrill Jockey Records
Band Links: Official | Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Lee Beamish
