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Album Review
digitalanalogue Be Embraced, You MillionsSong, By Toad
Article written by
Matt H - Apr 15, 2015
digitalanalogue - Be Embraced, You Millions!
It’s always a temptation when writing about a record to look to pick out its successes in reaching out, trying to impress, in making efforts speak to others. For all its qualities this digitalanalogue (a solo moniker for Broken Records’ Ian Turnbull) doesn’t do any of these. The 13 instrumental tracks here are introverted affairs, tied by title and feel to specific places and people – most obviously Turnbull’s late mum.
At first listen the music follows a melancholy post-rock template, it’d sit comfortably alongside Mogwai’s quieter moments (though there’s a few fuzzed up swells). But there’s something more stately and formal about the piano in particular which reins it back and makes it more of a self-contained artefact. The spare approach and use of voice samples and genuinely ambient sound evoke a sense of place and make it more akin to the sparse backing of Diamond Mine. And slowly, by being personal, by not reaching out, it draws you in to find the genuine warmth and loveliness within.