Review Summary: The essence of rain
As I wake up in the morning and look out my bedroom window, I notice that there is a light drizzle of rain. Before I leave my house to go for my morning walk, I grab my IPod and headphones. As soon as I enter the outdoors I smell the thick air as I breathe it in, simultaneously turning on my IPod and putting on "Kenotic", an album quit suitable for the atmosphere that I am currently walking in. Rich in ambience, layered instruments and spacey vocals, "Kenotic" is my go-to album for a peaceful and rainy day.
“Before the Celebration” opens the album, a song rooted in ambience, with a delicate tinkering piano. Before long the beginning is over and “The Air Between Us” follows, a repetitious piece, which utilizes pretty guitar lines and vocals to create a more spacey feel. In fact, it is "Kenotic" as a whole that is repetitious, putting the listener in a trance with its repetitive yet highly effective use of its beautiful melodies and noise, never once feeling forced or tired. The rain is becoming heavier as “Blankets of Night” enters my headphones, the sound of crickets and a lone guitar set the mood and before I know it, the rain has turned into an intense downpour as the song itself has turned into an ever so intense piece of beauty. Full of gorgeous vocals pouring over strings and guitar, and as the intensity dies down, the rain dies with it.
In a way, it’s easy to compare many of the songs from "Kenotic" to the beauty of rain. Some songs may start begin intensely, much like that of a torrential downpour, or some may just keep building up until the ultimate point of climax and then die, much like the experience I had on my walk. While there may not be a ton of variety when it comes to genres, "Kenotic" makes up for this flaw in having a set of sixteen carefully crafted songs, all of which safely sound different from one another.
The rain has stopped and the clouds are clearing up. As the final last minute of “Rising Tide” comes to a close and the sound of crashing waves that opened and ended the song come to a halt, I look up to the sky, staring at the sunlight beaming above through the clouds onto the wet street. I smile and turn off my IPod, take out my headphones and head back inside. Hopefully soon there will be another peaceful rainy day in which I can listen to "Kenotic" in all its beauty again.
