su's zone

note: have temporarily changed the site's font to comic sans so it's actually readable. will fix later. -su


rest well, weary body

Trent Sinclair's debut release under the Dog Park Recordings label - "Rest Well, Weary Body" - is experimental, deeply moving, undoubtedly my favorite release thus far in the year, and really unlike anything i've heard before - neither from trent themself nor any other artist. The closest work i can compare it to within my - admittedly shallow - personal realm of experience might be some parts of Reuben Ingall's 2012 album "dealt"; but with the vastly different structuring, and the juicy synths that sound as though they've been plucked straight from the dials of late 80's - early 90's analogue programmers, it could only really be done so in passing.

Unlike the vast majority of Trent's previous work, Rest Well, Weary Body is one single, continuous soundscape of a track, broken up into small and sweet [well, mostly; the majority of the track could be described as a slow, peaceful battle to keep up the hopefulness that things will get better - but it might be the case that this is merely my own projection] vignettes: a few melancholic chords here, an oppressive, distorted and mechanical beating there, an optimistic, almost paradoxically euphoric melody accompanied by the arpeggios that trent utilizes so well - i wish that some of these could have been developed further, perhaps even into their own works; but doing so would probably have proved detrimental to the overall piece. Apparently, this is a style based upon the Japanese Onkyōkei, or "reverberation of sound": a form of improvisation focusing upon the textures of sounds, rather than specific melodies or arrangements. While trent might not be situated in japan themselves, it is certainly an apt description of the work otherwise: it is a guided tour through trent's examinations of auditory textures, with which Rest Well is filled to the brim.

it's very obviously not for everyone; a longform release of largely ambient audio such as this demands time [the track is almost half an hour in length] specifically set aside to be most properly experienced, and some of the mechanical sounds can be particularly grating on the ear - but for me, the journey was a thoroughly pleasurable experience that i am unlikely to forget any time soon, and i look forward to this new era of trent's work with great anticipation.

Rest Well, Weary Body is currently available on bandcamp.