In Sea

Chronique

For his sixth album under the Aarktica name, Jon DeRosa continues exploring the possibilities of drone-as-song, caught somewhere in suspended space between pure atmospherics and understated, almost hidden melodic grace. If anything, his slowly building discography over time reflects the general passion of his work, to the point where he can now end an album with a seemingly out-of-nowhere cover -- "Am I Demon?" taken from the debut album of Danzig -- and have it sound completely like his own song, the brawling strut now replaced by understatedly sung, entrancing tension. It's of a piece with In Sea as a whole, the Terry Riley-referencing title one of several nods to DeRosa's other inspirations -- "LYMZ," the second song, takes its name from the initials of LaMonte Young and Marian Zazeela, and its dark, low tones suggest shafts of light losing themselves in oceanic depths. "Corpse Reviver No. 2," despite the seemingly peppy name, is equally shadow-laden, a heavily treated guitar part forming the almost-hidden center of a stark, steady progression, while "When We're Ghosts" reaches for a same awesome counterbalance between quiet melody and howling noise that suggests prime Flying Saucer Attack more often than not. In a more straightforward vein are songs like "Hollow Earth Theory," with DeRosa's softly yearning voice and warm, constantly rising core melody layered with beautiful backward guitar touches, and the gently charging instrumental "Young Light."
© Ned Raggett /TiVo