Review Summary: Atmospheric shoegaze/ambient music that brings more variance and different melodies than most of their contemporaries.
I remember flying over the central United States on my way to a vacation in Las Vegas and San Francisco. The space seemed so open, a sharp contrast to the bustled Eastern Seaboard I know so well. Gigantic fields and little population, everything seemed so vast. The musical equivalencies to this view are many, ranging from huge symphonic orchestras celebrating the “grandness of America” to epic choirs. I tend to imagine broad, electronic soundscapes that really have no definition, because the land in many ways is just one gigantic field of green from that high above. Where artists like Eluvium might provide fitting music, he has a more aquatic sound and might seem more fitting for oceans. Despite the album cover, The World on Higher Downs calls their debut album
Land Patterns. A band whose members spread throughout Wisconsin, they undoubtedly find inspiration in the vastness of that area of the country.
Unlike most ambient artists, The World on Higher Downs is a collaborative effort of four members, Troy Schafer, Eric Bray, Nathaniel Ritter, and Vincent Wachowiak. Together, they form a luscious blend of shoegaze guitar, keyboards, electronic drums, soulful violin, and varying bass patterns. Each instrument can singlehandedly change the atmosphere of a song. They all have equal influence on the sound and the overall effect is something that one person could not achieve. At all times, multiple ideas swirl around each other, intertwining while still acting as their own entity. “Euclid” is very repetitive at its base, but different melodies from a violin that just barely sings out of its context to an overpowering bassline that ends in a double stopped chord keep the song interesting. The band makes use of repetitive song structures by simply changing the texture and melody constantly. An ever flowing, relentless style emanates from this compositional style.
Still, as most albums of this type, atmosphere makes the most effect here. The electronic drums sometimes sound glitchy, sometimes splashy, and sometimes realistic. With this variance, a multitude of different atmospheres, ethereal or more tangible, open or closed, exude themselves from the music. Sprinkling of xylophone and other nuances considerably add to these styles and make for some much needed variety. The genre is by definition very repetitive, but The World on Higher Downs makes sure the album never gets old. Closing song “Sun Court” celebrates with huge cymbal crashes and light, simple guitar melodies. In the background, textural chords keep sound flowing at all times. Rather than ending bombastically, it tapers off quietly. The point of this album is not to have anything stand out particularly, but to emit an overall experience.
Land Patterns contains some memorable melodies, atmospheres, and sounds, but really is an album to put on as background music, the best of its kind. Songs like “Euclid” and “Two Aged Windows” lure the listener to sleep in a tranquil, easygoing atmosphere. While the album proves a difficult controlled, intense listen due to its ambiguity, the band masters production and atmosphere.
