Western Standards

Edition of 110 copies, vinyl only, one time pressing with download card. “Whereas most other music squabbles for your attention whilst it plays, Unraveling Designs is content to remain in your subconscious mind, gently seducing you in an unhurried manner. The steady swelling of opener Recognition is a welcoming crescendo of highly atmospheric textures, seguing perfectly into the bubbling Down From The Sea, which is certainly one of the most carefully conceived and expertly executed numbers of the growing Western Standards repertoire. The monumental title track is the natural centre-piece of the album, like a single ebbing tide of hypnotic magnificence, replete with layers of gradually developing sound-effects and awash with droning ambience. As the song builds to a wonderfully understated climax, the hidden majesty is gradually revealed during an enormously satisfying conclusion. The insistent pulsing of The Needle is a pleasing contrast to the positively ghostly harmonics which sweep in and out of the mix before settling back to a simple, undulating loop. The following Terrain demonstrates some of the harshest textures present on Unravelling Designs, a veritable orchestra of horn like interjections, boldly metered above a fog of hazy distortion. Comparatively, the beautiful closing number Smokewalk is a borderline triumphant series of near musical harmonics which jangle and chime to an appropriately beatific finish. One of the more refined albums of the year but also one of the most rewarding.