“Away” is the new album released by ambient veteran Drifting In Silence.
The project’s signature pure tones and bold minimalism return with a shroud of mystery.
Just when the environment seems familiar, the entire terrain shifts, revealing what has been hiding in plain sight.
The album glows with maturity and gentle attention to sound design.
“Away” moves slowly but methodically, the smooth swells gradually climaxing in a sublime cascade of sine waves and delicate piano work.
Each track is a meditation anchored by deliberate details; enormous, lush textures are balanced with bright electronica (“Breathe”) or soft, thrumming percussion (“Obscure”, “Darkwithin”).
“Away” revels in its use of space and the massive territory allows for Drifting In Silence to photograph with a wide lens, stretching from melancholy to exaltation in its exploration of absence and the transformational effects of time.
The album is unified by the expert mastering of genre heavyweight Rafael Anton Irisarri (Grouper, Biosphere, Julianna Barwick) and brought to life by Derrick Stembridge, the sole member of Drifting In Silence. Stembridge has operated as Drifting In Silence since 2006 and has reliably evolved its mellifluous sound while maintaining focus on the deepest reaches of human emotion.
