Another Emeralds-side project comes to me. I’m glad they have so many, since they literally create a whole new movement of this kind of kosmische music. Sometimes when I think I’ve discovered a new band in this field, it is just another Emeralds side project.
Sea Channels really does it well, probably better than a lot of their other projects. Everything’s kept perfectly focused on movement. Yes, it does move, not just in traditional evolutionary forms, but from left to right. There is a lot of panning done on this EP, so if you’re not a fan of such kinds of gracious sweeps of sound, you might not enjoy this that much.
It is book-ended by two of the longest tracks. “Sea Channels” includes the actual sound of flowing water before breaking into glorious light at the end. The two middle tracks even include a light drum machine; something generally frowned upon around these ambient parts. A slight beat only adds to the rhythm of the sounds rather than turning it into lame ambient with a beat.
“When We’re Both Gone” is the saddest piece on here. It has the slowest evolution out of all of the tracks, and for a while you might think it is just repeating endlessly. There’s more going on than what first meets the eye, which makes it a great closer.
Hopefully John Elliot releases more stuff in this vein. I’d like that a lot.