Drone, and the world of sound experimentation, consistently presents us with the truth. When I say truth. it’s a holistically natural soundscape derived from both that around us, and that within us. Released from the constraints of structured music, and his role as guitarist in experimental rock/post punk band Squid, Anton Pearson takes the experience of travel, channels the emotion into sound, and on ‘Driving Through Belgium’ creates something quite stunning on his debut release.
Opening with the 20 minute epic ‘Driving Past The Muscular Cows In Belgium’, you can feel the monotony yet vivid dynamic shifts of a long distance drive across Europe. The hum is always just beneath you – but the kaleidoscope of apparition runs strong through the layered droning guitars and synths, as well as the shift into more solitary key sections and overpowering ambient swells. This is a sound the burrows inside you and makes you want to sleep yet run sixteen times round a twenty acre field – all at the same time.
Cosmic sleep patterns fall haphazardly from the evocative ‘Teeth To Cut The Grass’, which is flanked by a pair of ‘Tintinnabulation’ tracks – one more unsettling than the other. Closer ‘Tern Daylight’ is an exercise in synth work, pitch shifts and almost glass-like production. 47 minutes of the compositions crafted by Anton Pearson can feel like days, yet feel like moments.
Experimental drone and sound design is, for me, an insanely pure form of music. It takes away every misconceived idea, every scrap of influential echoing and every fallen hero – it is an emotional capsule, an absolute continuum that lives far longer than the artist and the listener. Anton Pearson has placed a part of himself within this record, and there is shall stay forever.
Best Paired With: A Long Journey Through Europe, A Bag Of Sweets And Google Maps.
Reviewed by Jaff.
Anton Pearson – Driving Through Belgium is out now on World Of Echo.
Leave a Reply