Read on to find out why I enjoy how “Home” creates luscious, intricate soundscapes that are full of hope, but touched by melancholy.
Initial Impressions
LWTHR’s Home is an album that is full of dreamy drifts of warm sound, lovingly crafted melodies and spans a broad range of synth tones, timbres and textures that paint rich aural imagery in the mind of the listener.
The first element that I feel makes Home work well is the dreaming, misty quality of many parts of the album. There are softly glowing, floating soundscapes that sparkle with light and glide along with ease. It’s the mental equivalent of taking a deep, cleansing breath as one listens to the music.
LWTHR also has a gift for melodic writing and it shows on the album. The melodies he creates are clear, memorable and emotive. I enjoy how many of them are positive and hopeful, but always have just a touch of melancholy or sadness. There’s something touching in that combination for me.
There’s a richness and depth to the synth choices that have been made on Home. LWTHR explores a wide variety of synth sounds that run the gamut from clear and sharp to gentler and more flowing. Along with full bass and solid drums, all of the different musical elements work together to create a full sounding album.
My Favourite Tracks Analyzed
“Pathfinder Mission” kicks off with trembling, rattling sounds fill the wide open void of space as a steadily rising series of cosmic, caressing notes are joined by uplifting piano chords.
Full arpeggios glimmer and dance as the solid, pulsating drumbeat adds form to the music. An elevated, metallic synth carries a shining line of synth that mirrors the waves of lambent sound that throb out over the beat’s steadiness.
The shimmering synths play extended lines of oscillating sound while delicate aural mist swirls. A repeating, trembling line of synth rises and falls as piano chords climb and sing into the track. I am drawn toward the cascading torrents of light flowing from this track.
Computerized, round sounding waves of medium-high synth ripple across the surface of “Aurora Australis” as soft, ticking percussion becomes a throbbing pulse and whorls of synth coalesce and cry out a hopeful, heart warming melody over the substantial drums. I enjoy the caressing nature of the melody in this track.
A rich, slightly distorted series of notes moves behind the melodic line, wobbling a little, as it glimmers into the open air of the music. There’s a momentary lapse into silence before the steady beat shapes the music again. The bright melody dreams over the chest deep beat while arpeggios spread in glowing ripples while warm chords flow.
“Dreaming Cities” begins with keyboard notes that have a twisting edge to them as they move in a tide of oscillating sound. A lush, slightly sharp-edged synth carries an unsettled melodic pattern as another bursting, wandering synth with a technological feeling flickers and washes outwards through the track.
There’s an impression of a dream that isn’t completely pleasant in this track. A circular, glistening sound shifts while the beat pulsates and adds motion to the track. The melodic synths expand through the track and another evolving, shifting line of synth flows out in an oscillating rush before the track returns to the “A” section.
A full, intertwined synth wash is joined by a warmly lapping melody that sings out with light and ease to open “Perpetual Motion.” I am touched by the message of hope that the music exudes.
An elevated, shimmering line of synth soars upwards over the steady beat’s gliding throb while stacked, ever climbing chords are broken into by a quickly spinning arpeggio.
The song’s hopeful message is emphasized by a robotic voice repeating the phrase “Nobody’s stopping us now” and stuttering, throbbing broken beats move along with nasal-sounding, leaping arpeggios that move in dense clouds. Climbing, drifting synths keep adding brightness before the track breaks to the robotic voice and smoothly sliding and sparkling tides of sound.
Dense, slightly gritty washes of sound move into “Sega Blue Skies” with expanding circles of medium-low synth hat vibrate out into the music over the slow tempo of the drums. Rapidly leaping lines of chip sound flare through the music and the relentless patterns of vibrating synth sound go on. Chip sounds arpeggiate and wriggle rapidly through the track before a massive drum fill hits.
A synth that gives a rocking sensation to the music rises and falls in uneven pulses. I am enamoured of the feeling of energetic agitation in this track. Expansive synth chords add more depth and a feeling of fullness before glimmering, leaping chip sounds flicker through in a surging tide before silence falls.
“Andromeda Initiative” comes to life with a delicate airy background and sweeping synth notes that extend out over it. A glittering arpeggio circles slowly as a steady pulsation of sunlit synth moves in lines that flow on and on. The beat comes into the track with a solid weight to guide it along. I am pulled in by the addictive combination of gentleness and wistful aching in the main melody as medium-low, round synth carries descending musical patterns.
There’s a drum fill before coruscating, slow bursts of synth move over the reverberating echoes of glowing sound underneath. The pained, softly touching melody slips into the track while the drums keep shaping and propelling the music in smooth forward motion. The lead synth now breaks into the descending patterns of sound, matched by the beat and a bass oscillation that flows into the echoing drift.
Conclusion
LWTHR creates luscious, intricate soundscapes on Home that combine with his melodic chops and a feeling of hope and dreaming that is just a little tragic and melancholy. I find that this album relaxes me while still engaging me as a listener.