ABSENT

jhimm AKA Jason Himmelberger

There in Connecticut, that coastal state in Northeastern USA, that place of rivers and the ocean tides, cold winters and hot, humid summers, must bring a certain melancholy to the soul.

At least to jhimm.

This self-produced EP melds together wistful longing and a damped-down rage, exploring themes of love and loss, both in the electronica beats and synth sounds, and the cinematic swelling of orchestrations, and the lyrics that smolder, and burn with cold fire, and weep as the distant protagonist struggles to cope.

Static

The EP opens with pulsing electronica, which is a motif that threads the four tracks together. The music on this EP is not the bombastic, complex blasts of metal, or the gargantuan swells and recessions of symphonic progressive music. Rather, we are drawn into a subtle, quietly sizzling inner world, with the use of droning bass lines, lovely vocal harmonies alongside the melancholic Peter Gabriel-esque vocal leads.

Yellow String

Again opening with electronica beats, and that restrained voice over simple structure, then swelling into lush and flowing richness, which again recedes. The theme of mortality and wasted opportunities is conveyed in what for me is one of the money lyrics: "You're not as important as you think/ Gone before the dying ink."

Till the Empty Goes Away

Here is the most chilling track of emptiness, broken heart, and loss, over slow, deliberate swells of music. Jason uses harmonies in a lovely, melodic way, and a soaring guitar solo leads to the ending.

Doesn't Happen Here

The album closer is mournful, cinematic, with a sustained opening, into which some rhythmic drum patterns are introduced. Again, love and loss are themes. Music swells with use of keyboards, synthesized sounds, and orchestrations, builds, amplifying the longing and loss to almost unbearable levels. Then it slowly recedes to give way to a throbbing bass synth sound which grows into cinematic fullness. And recedes.

And fades.

Conclusion

In this crisply produced, quietly fiery music, jhimm interjects an inner landscape filled with the dark hungers and longings and loneliness of a sensitive soul. The music is never intrusive, but is subtle and grows and recedes as the ocean tides do.

My rating: 3.5 icy fire-sparks.

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