Fallen is a free spirit. Its music ushers in a quiet piano, but tape machines, modular and Moog synthesizers are all in use, too, covering the piano in a warm, undulating atmosphere of tranquillity.
Blurred lights echo back from the distance. A faint hiss coats the music. Introspective and open at the same time, the notes are free to come and go as they wish, washing up against the sides of the underlying drone before passing through, chiming like a thousand church bells set to different, imprecise and imperfect intervals. The notes are kind. Some of their brothers and sisters are left to sustain, stretching out into the ether and becoming a part of the glowing background drone, giving the listener a deep and warm experience.
The background details are magnified, zooming in on the minuscule and near-silence. Deupree provides a still expanse where the music can float freely without fear of collision, and although a cluster of notes can arrive at any one time, they’re never crushed together. The lulled piano glints like the sun at daybreak, its warmth leaking from imperfect hisses and gritty layers.
Fallen is an album of recovery and of remedy, music for the clearing of debris, a deep cleansing for heart and soul. Its soft-skinned piano drifts in a pool of its own textured haze…
In the modern era, people try to sweep imperfections away, but photoshopped images can be uglier because of their artificial nature. A digital mp3 will always lose something in the excessive polishing process. The resurgence of vinyl, along with the continued support of tape, is answer enough. The slight background hiss isn’t an imperfection – it’s a part of the music, an unedited and unfiltered authenticity that deepens the music’s connection with the listener. No plastic surgery required.
The piano herself is like an unending trickle of pure water. The fluid sound drips into the foreground in a slow and steady way – the ambient way – but it also feels alive; relaxed without slouching, feeling at one with its surroundings, accepting of things. A life lesson brought to you by music.