Great Barrier
Stock, 2020
9/10
A collaboration of musicians from the Perth, Australia community, Selfless Orchestra brings plenty of post-rock ideas to a classically influenced setting where founding members Steven Alyian, Ray Grenfell and Jerome Turle help construct sonically engaging swells of complicated and often powerful instrumentation.
“Boundless, Measureless” starts the listen with barely audible ambience as quivering strings enter the building atmosphere, and “Time Is A Flower Part I (The Dream Refused To Stay The Same)” follows with a serene landscape of sublime post-rock that escalates into a tense display of exploration where vocals are used like an instrument.
As we get into the middle, “False Bodies Part I (Innocence)” makes great use of bare keys as gorgeous strings add much sophistication, while “False Bodies Part II (Ignorance)” goes the opposite direction with an abrasive mashing of orchestral and thundering haze that’s as intimidating as it is ominous. “Bleached”, an album stand out, then spends 7 minutes moving from warm piano into a sublime display of cautious drums amid aching strings.
The last two tracks exit the listen perfectly, where “Whalesong” is an unusual, cinematic moment of adventurous manipulation, and “Eden Is Lost” unfolds across 10 minutes of cathartic, fascinating and occasionally thick droning that embraces metallic sensibilities.
There’s some substantial resumes on hand here, as members of the Perth Symphony Orchestra, Karnivool, Injured Ninja, The Weapon Is Sound and many others comprise Selfless Orchestra, and the result is an album that takes a post-rock template and branches into countless, exciting avenues you won’t regret exploring.
Travels well with: Cosse- Nothing Belongs To Anything; Christopher Sky- What It Is, It Isn’t