Guy Gelem – Tides

Guy Gelem’s “Tides” is the latest for the Quiet Design label. Gelem’s work is primarily a blend of guitar and cello with gentle electronics interspersed. And while his work has its roots in post-rock in many ways, it also relies on a combination of slow evolutions and a seeming repetitiveness more often associated with drone. “Tides” has to win the award for most apropos album title so far this year as the album relies on a wave-like rising and falling of musical movements. Comprised of five songs, fittingly titled simply as “First Tide” through “Fifth Tide”, the album has a devotion to a singular idea/approach that Gelem realises deftly.

You feel this album before you hear it: Gelem opens things with a low bass throb that begins as a low hum in your inner ear. Then gentle guitar harmonics join in, followed by cello. Throughout the album, instruments join in by twos or threes and then one or two will drop out momentarily only to return a few bars later. Individual instruments are often playing very repetitive lines or phrases; so any sense of motion in the songs is the result of the way the instruments are layered and stripped away. The music genuinely feels like it is coming at you in waves: at first gentle, then building momentum, receding, and then repeating the whole process again. This is how Gelem creates the audio equivalent of tides. But this approach also frees up the artist to suddenly introduce a new melody over the top of an existing one, sometimes creating a moody, almost ominous, sense to some of the pieces. This ability to suddenly shift tone lends a palpable tension to the music in places.

“Third Tide” opens with some lovely guitar work. This tone, at once both bright and dry, is used throughout the album. No doubt a strategic choice for this particular album, that guitar tone is emblematic of the sensation of stillness within movement that permeates throughout the album. No matter the instrument, musical phrases never linger or ring out, creating the feeling that each phrase is a kind of closed loop. As far as the arrangements go, individual instruments will often stand apart from one another and then a new element is introduced and suddenly it all blends seamlessly. It creates that rising and falling sensation that emulates the movement of a wave. Again, the title of “Tides” is most fitting: it takes a series of low tides pushing concurrently to create a high tide. So, each instrument is like the low tide pushing forward, and these moments of synergy in the album are sort of like a resulting cumulative force that happens every so often.

“Fifth Tide” relies on that hyper fast yet slow due to use of delay and reverb style of guitar playing that post rock musicians often use to create a  sort of spacey quality in their music. Gelem pairs this off with muted but aggressive cello strikes. The cello almost serves as a threatening undercurrent. It’s a fitting end, as if the listener is being eased out of the album.

“Tides” is a pleasant surprise. Gelem came up with an approach for these songs and managed to create an engaging and focused album. At times the project does come across as a little austere because of its devotion to crafting this singular approach. Regardless, Guy Gelem has delivered a finely crafted album of such depth and focus that any qualms are minor. Quiet Design has been on a roll of late, and Gelem has most certainly kept the ball rolling.

- Review by Brendan Moore for Fluid Radio

www.quietdesign.us
www.myspace.com/guygelem