A COLORES

This is a very beautiful, relaxed, and melodic instrumental post rock album. It's surely not on the psychedelic/Kraut influenced side of post rock, only very occasionally we get some of the typical post rock crescendo parts, although it's not without dynamic. Composition takes the driver's seat here, there's very little if any improvisation, but still it all sounds playful and effortless. The sound is dominated by melodic guitar and keyboard, mostly a mellow e-piano. The drumming and bass playing is tasteful but clearly in the background, which fits the music well (I'm normally a fan of robust mixes with a strong rhythm section but I have no complaints here). Generally the musicality is very strong. Everything works well together (the melodic interplay between keyboard and guitar is outstanding at times) and there are no ego trips. While melody and mood are central, there are some progressive elements. There are some nonstandard time signatures, made to sound easy and natural, compositional sophistication in a good number of songs, and the odd fun sound experimentation in the beginning of a few tracks. Most material is mid tempo except the odd acceleration or slow part.

This is a very pleasant album with enough sophistication and variation to be interesting, despite it all sounding very organic. Although everything fits well together and the album overall is a very good listen, there's a certain variation in the quality of the tracks; we get some wonderful moments of magic (Halo Heads, Liquid Pyramids, Palindrome Dome) and some tracks that are good but not that special and memorable. The opener Abrazo Distante is fine but not among the top three of the album, and tracks 2 and 3 are rather of the latter class, so the album may be underestimated when test listening from the beginning. Give it some time to take shape and develop toward the real highlights! 4.0 stars.