Review Summary: Then I count to three...
Controlled Breathing is the sophomore effort from post-rock/ambient two-piece Sugary Sweet Machines. Since inception, they have developed a penchant for sprawling ambient pieces that are brooding in delivery, but not so sedated as to fall into the realm of plodding drone. Their debut release
Tours of the Bleak was largely experimental, so much so that the album as a whole felt very disjointed and prototypical. Sugary Sweet Machines had certainly affirmed their desire for experimentation as they boldly projected their multifaceted vision through a medium similar to a kaleidoscope - as you shifted through each track, you were presented with many contrasting ideas, but eventually the novelty wears off.
It is with that description - even as I write these words - that the title of their new album becomes ever more significant. For those unaware, controlled breathing is a fantastic method of management, be it stress, anxiety, exercise and what have you. Sugary Sweet Machines have certainly managed to restrain themselves and allow their ideas room to breath without being suffocated by an impending swirl of auditory mishmash.
Controlled Breathing demonstrates incredible focus, unlike the plethora of would be experimental-electronic savants that often forget the concept of creating an
actual album and opt instead for an incoherent mess operating under a guise of 'avante-garde'. Indeed,
Controlled Breathing manages to incorporate a stunning diversity of sounds that don't detract from an overarching concept and actually sound like they belong together.
Perhaps the most unlikely bond formed on
Controlled Breathing is the dream/awake tandem... I'll explain. The album is essentially a tradeoff between disconcerting ambient pieces and industrial-infused post-rock epics. It's actually quite clever: the album operates as a sine wave, dipping into dreary lows only to rebound with upbeat pieces rife with pianos, programmed percussion and just about every instrument they can tastefully mesh without sounding muddled. For relatively new musicians, it is impressive to see such a wide array of sounds incorporated with such tact. The tones of the tracks never falter, and are actually bolstered by each intricacy thrown into the mix. "Awake III" is a personal favourite, and it features synths, screams, beats and bloops yet actually manages to sound, dare I say it, danceable. The programmed drumming drives tracks like these forward so they rarely lull, and manage to contrast beautifully with the dystopian aura generated by the various "Dream" tracks.
It is on that note I feel obligated to shed light on
Controlled Beathings's story. For the sake of preserving the story's impact - and perhaps I should be self-aware as to say I would f
uck the details up royally - I will say only this: the story is set in a future where the government sees fit to prescribe mass quantities of medication as a last-ditch effort to satisfy the population. The notion is that these pills induce pleasant dreams that essentially dampen the impact of their meager day-to-days. The storyline is largely narrative, and is told from the perspective of a man who chooses to refuse this treatment. Alas, I'll stop there. Surely you don't want me to spoil it.
Controlled Breathing as a whole is very ambitious, but never overzealous. None of the various concepts at play manage to detract from what is, at its core, a thoroughly enjoyable ambient-post-rock-sexy-industrial album. In the hands of the less capable,
Controlled Breathing certainly could have buckled under the weight of inopportune experimentation, but Sugary Sweet Machines manage to fire on all cylinders while simultaneously dragging you into the depths of bleak subconsciousness. It's a pipe dream you may never want to crawl out of.
