2 × Vinyl, LP – NLS

From the first track, Ficciones by Paul Prudence reveals a hypnotic sense of estrangement and seduction, thanks to some cosmic and meditative sequences, with infinitesimal audio emergencies, field recordings and very elegant treatments of modular synthesis. The atmospheres resound as magic and floating and the contrast between the organic and machinic elements is well balanced. The movements follow very intensely on these recordings: all the elements, the vibrational effects, the whispers, the state alterations and the rustles, together give life to some visionary ambient music, full of drones and quietist solutions, whose results are never ordinary or elegiac. Prudence doesn’t wish to build uninhabitable spaces, despite the alien connotations. Most likely, he wants to share some imaginary places, as in a gently shared hallucination. This approach is reminiscent of Can-D, the psychoactive developed by the dystopian fantasy of Philip K. Dick in The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. However, in this album, released by the Hong Kong label NLS Records, it’s possible to find some fragments of concrete music, millimetric iterations and arranged sounds. Although not connected to other scenes, all these elements are presented with extreme care. Prudence’s work is often inspired by structures or textures whose source is audiovisual or generative. In Ficciones he astutely develops some geometries and symmetries whose genesis mainly tends towards a sensitive and suspended musicality. Compared with his former works, the twelve tracks presented here are perhaps less complex and hybrid, but more enjoyable and charming. From an abstract and conceptual sound design background, there is the emergence of a free inspiration, one that aspires to a deeper emotional and aesthetic engagement. The album artwork is very impressive too; this is unsurprising given the attention and passion of Prudence for the graphic arts.

 

Paul Prudence – Ficciones