Oathless – Standing Where Our Paths Shall Meet

Posted On: December 6, 2010
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Originally conceived by Simon Housley as an acoustic folk project four years ago, Oathless has recently progressed into the realms of electroacoustic ambience. Standing Where Our Paths Shall Meet is the follow up to Zephyr, released earlier this year, and is written almost as a love letter to winter; the work depicting a sparse landscape, bare trees and a whistling wind. Yet there is something very comforting about the album; in amongst the slowly shifting chords and tonal layers there is an underlying human element, be it a reflective piano line as on opening track Under Porcelain Wings, or the finger-picked guitar of .

Incorporating synths, piano, guitar, electronic processing and field recordings, there is a wide variety of sounds on offer here. Housley displays a very sympathetic approach, knowing which sounds to use together to best effect. Tracks such as Tigerlily which combines what seems to be heavily processed strings with slowly shifting tones to produce a beautifully peaceful atmosphere demonstrate a contained way of working, never using more than is necessary.

Winter Into Autumn uses many different sounds, all to great effect. Drifting synth sounds intertwine with bowed strings, gradually building before giving way to a sparse piano line accompanied only by the sound of rain. The drifting chords gradually reappear, augmenting the fragility of the minimalist piano. The listener is left on a very wintery note with closing track Ghost Providence. Consisting of a fragmented piano line, interspersed amongst thin, static chords which eventually die away to reveal the bare solo piano, images of frozen lakes or wind beaten trees are never far away.

The tracks that feel most comfortable here are the ones that combine the two elements of acoustic instrumentation and more processed sounds. On these tracks Housley’s voice comes through, offering the listener something personal and distinctive which the more out and out ambient electronic tracks tend to lack. Overall though what shines through is a considered approach that has successfully combined the acoustic and electronic and Oathless is certainly an artist to keep an eye on for the future.

- Review by Katie English for Fluid Radio

www.myspace.com/oathless
www.hawkmoonrecords.bandcamp.com

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