Throwing Snow - Embers

Throwing Snow
Embers
2017
Spotify

Embers is the second major release from English producer Ross Tones and uses super lush sounds to create this very real world populated by his music. The record begins and ends with a burning fire and throughout you will hear sounds from the forest like bugs, rain, a storm and other ambient noises but they all are punctuated by the electronic music behind it. The album is broken up into tracks, but it more flows along wiping away any borders. With electronic ambient music you often find yourself with some ethereal themes, but Tones is able to keep everything really grounded and on earth. "Gossamer's Thread" has this section towards the end which gives you this real trudging along sensation. You are taking a walk through Forest, you can just feel it in every bit of your bones but the darkness that Tones creates also serves to keep you on edge while taking that walk. Anxiety plays a huge role because for a lot of the album you are really forced to pay attention and paying attention means a lot of repetition coming your way. "Recursion" however drops those sentiments are really gives you a blistering percussive track. It is hard on the percussion and uses a sort of harpsichord piano to play the melody. The sound can be so sinister at times but never really that scary, just like life looming ominously over your shoulder. The pressure put on the listener by "Recursion" is somewhat lifted for a moment when "Pattern Forming" begins but that to descends into a creepy keyboard line that never feels like it has any structure.

There are often times where it feels like Throwing Snow digs himself a hole only to find a way out. He will intentionally jumble the mix, or get caught up in the sheer number of musical lines he has going on at once and then almost magically pull them all together for a very brief moment. "Prism, Pt. 1" is the first time Embers gives us an almost pop ready dance track, or as close as Throwing Snow are ever going to get to pop. It seems like this track should not fit amongst this album, or even the whole "Prism" movement within Embers but it so does. At almost an hour the record tends to stick with repetition far to much. There are times where Tones cold move into his next sound more efficiently but it would make the journey less vivid. Further if the length of an album is an issue for you perhaps a conceptual record is not for you. Embers shows that when you really push something and really explore your sound you can come up with some truly inspired stuff. Throwing Snow feels like he is just getting started and I'm sure there is much more to come.

8.0 out of 10