This album starts off with “Incantation For Inanimate Object”. It’s actually sort of a dark intro, but I feel like more than anything it’s spiritual. It’s also on the experimental side. We’re only a few seconds in, and this is already vastly different than everything else James has touched. The synths are just so ominous and the chanted vocals are very unsettling. But I was also sort of just hoping they would dive right into this album. So this intro is sort of just alright, and it’s certainly weird to say the least. On the other hand, “Spinning Dance” is pretty far out and experimental in the best way. This track is just so wide-sounding and continues to show James experimenting with a much bigger atmosphere. There’s a lot of very sweet instrumentals, which are obviously much more vast than anything James has even come close to. I mean, up until this point James has simply been a DJ and electronic artist, which is fine. But I’ve always thought James has much bigger ideas, and that’s what we’re seeing with “Spinning Dance”. This track is just so colorful and playful on the ears. It’s almost got a jazzy tone in a lot of those woodwinds. But it never really completely loses sight of its electronic base. It’s colorful and sweet, and it also continues to come off very spiritual for James. But there’s also a ton of Progressive influences as well. It’s a really wild turn of events for James, but so far, I’m really into this and I can’t wait to hear more. Then we have “Pass Through The Fire”. This continues on with a whole lot of the same vibes, and I’m impressed with how sweet and playful a lot of this comes off as. Nonetheless, it’s often the more electronic elements that come off as the most ear-grabbing, which isn’t too shocking. Now, this one is a little repetitive at first, but I really love the way this one builds constantly and adds in each instrumental slowly. The synths here are just so powerful, and not to mention the Jazz influences have completely taken over, mostly in those intense saxophones. This has a very free-form feel to it, sounding almost like a lot of this was improved. But it makes this album seriously exciting. As “Pass Through The Fire” goes on and the instrumentals keep piling up, it just gets wilder and wilder. Honestly, this album is a very exciting turn for James.
Now, “Each Moment Like The First” has a very icy intro that shows James has yet to truly leave behind his electronic routes. But let’s be honest, this is much more adventurous and forward thinking than anything he had been doing in the past. I love just how progressive this comes off and just how much this one builds constantly into something much bigger. The layers to this one just make it oddly beautiful, and I really can’t say no to any of this. It remains very vibrant and lush, and while the sort of spiritual vibe has wained, I still feel like this is very personal for James. I’m just so into how many of his ideas are coming into light, and how beautiful they really are. “Each Moment Like The First” is all gravy for me. Then we have “The Beginning & End Of The World”, which is easily the most experimental track here. It’ really pretty far out there and not nearly as inviting. But it works really well for James still for the most part, and once it gets going it gets pretty damn warm. Now, while I do like the low-key groove on this and just how smokey some of the horns come off, this one does end up being a little one-dimensional for me. It drags on a bit and doesn’t really go anywhere too interesting. There are some certainly very cool moments, and the instrumentals that are solid are breathtaking. But this needed to mix up a little for me, and it really doesn’t. However, the very spiritual vibe of this album comes back with a bang on “Thunder Moon Gathering”. It’s also seriously mysterious, which I really love. I don’t really mind the fact that James is taking his sweet time getting going on this one because this atmosphere is just so cool. I love how lush these instrumentals continue to come off as well. Like, there is just so much color to these very sporadic synths, and in this case seriously wild saxophones. This is vast, exciting, and once again very spontaneous sounding. The atmosphere on “Thunder Moon Gathering” just gets bigger and bigger with these gorgeous blasts of synths and horns. It does continue to come off very spiritual and very close to the heart of James. In a way, this is a real coming out party for James, and he’s watching all of his vibrant ideas take shape.
Then we have this album’s title track, which is so much more of an intense Electronic piece filled with so many more in-your-face synths and even wilder experimentation. But it’s dazzling really. I love James’s focus on the saxophone here and just how wild it comes off in this flurry of sounds. “The Animal Spirits” is a bizarre one, but it continues to really stick with you. For classic fans of James Holden’s early material, this is going to be the closest thing to a sound you’re familiar with. However, it remains just as adventurous and much more intense as the rest of this album. Then we have “The Neverending”, which is pretty much the most straightforward and melodic tune here. Which at first, I thought like sounded like something I would be ready for about this point in the album. But compared to the rest of the tunes here, this track isn’t nearly s entertaining or interesting. The synths here just seem so stuff, and the horns and woodwinds that pop in are lifeless. “The Neverending” is an alright track, but this is just such a big backtrack for James here, and is easily the safest. This track ends off with “Go Gladly Into The Earth”. Now with this one, at the very least it’s the sort of playful and fun track I’ve heard here. I feel like of all of the tracks here, this is the least spiritual, and James just sort of sounds like he’s having a blast putting this one together. The instrumentals here are some of the easiest on the ears, to be honest. But at the same time, they’re just so warm and likable throughout. “Go Gladly To Earth” is also seriously sunny and easy to digest, and is a really pleasant ending to this very adventurous album.
Rating: 7.5/10
Give A Listen To: "Spinning Dance", "Each Moment Like The First", "Thunder Moon Gathering", "Go Gladly Into The Earth"
Genre: Electronica / Experimental
Overall Thoughts: Overall I'm surprised but just how decent this album is. There are a few tracks here and there which I sort of wish were a little more drawn out or switched it up a little bit more. But this is still a decent electronica album, a very forward-thinking one at that. Plus, I can't remember a time where James Holden's ideas came off fuller.
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