The Album Leaf - Future Falling

Während der Pandemie war Jimmy LaValle offensichtlich noch umtriebiger als sonst und so konnte man zwischen verschollenen Nebenprojekten, einzelnen Singles, neu aufgelegten EPs, Überarbeitungen ältererer Alben und mehreren Soundtracks leicht den Überblick verlieren. 

Für sein siebtes Album unter dem Namen The Album Leaf hat er rund 200 Demos gesichtet und letztendlich zehn ausgewählt und fertig gestellt. „Future Falling“, das sieben Jahre nach seinem letzten regulären Album „Between Waves“ erscheint, ist größtenteils instrumental geblieben und kombiniert dabei elektronische und organische Klänge zu düsteren, melodiösen Soundscapes, die eine meditative Wirkung entfachen können. Zahlreiche Mitstreiter steuerten im Studio Synthesizer-, aber auch Gitarren-, Geigen- oder Bläser-Aufnahmen bei. Mit Kimbra und Natasha Khan (Bat For Lashes) konnten für „Afterglow“ und „Near“ auch zwei prominente weibliche Gaststimmen gewonnen werden.

„Future Falling“ ist bereits digital erschienen, auf die limitierte Doppel-LP (neon pink Vinyl) muss man noch bis zum 19. Mai warten.

  

 

Oftentimes, Future Falling sounds like the soundtrack to the 12 stages of grief. The mostly instrumental album starts off on a sullen note with the subdued “Prologue” and “Dust Collects.” Flip the record to side B—turn over the new Leaf, so to speak—and the sentiments are similar on songs like “Give In” and “Cycles.” Thankfully, LaValle is one to loyally stick by the grieving—and there’s no escaping him on an Album Leaf record. Like a hospice expert or a Stephen Minister, he offers guidance as death slowly takes hold, the colorful leaves outside the hospital window dancing, somersaulting, and crumbling apart on the ground until their, and our, inevitable demise. (…)

Never does LaValle get as dark as, say, Mogwai, even when The Album Leaf sometimes sounds an awfully lot like them (see: “Breathe”). He never goes down the same dark but often gaudy tunnel as Perturbator or other newer instrumental projects inspired by John Carpenter soundtracks.

(Flood Magazine)

  

The LP flows gently from beginning to end, bobbing on a sea of calm ~ the same name as one of LaValle’s apps.  Even the bubbling “Afterglow” keeps its percussion light enough to melt into the surrounding tracks, its synth echoing the horns of “Dust Collects.”  And while Natasha Khan (Bat for Lashes) calls her track “a sort of ambient fairytale,” the same could be said of the entire set.  One can see this in the visualizer for “Future Falling,” as colors and shapes vibrate and morph ever so slightly during the course of the ambient, piano-led piece.

As the album progresses, the trajectory is revealed through a trio of action titles:  “Breathe,” “Give In,” “Stride.”  Without recorded words, LaValle is giving advice to himself and others.  The first is an invitation to pause, relax, just breathe, the peaceful chimes a reassurance.  The second implies healthy surrender, letting go, the percussion a sign of resolve.  The tempo increases in the third and most confident piece, settling on a walking pace that is brisk but not fast.  The horns return, triumphant, a promise of what might come should the first two directives be embraced.  LaValle has lived through this cycle, emerged intact, and returned to tell his story.  

(A Closer Listen)