Nostalgia is at the centre of Lawrence English’s latest full-length release, The Rest Is My Ghost. It has a lot to answer for now; both good and bad, and in the lead up its release, English spoke about its societal impact and how it’s largely amplified to fictitious levels.
There are reasons why, of course. Were people too close to the culture to truly ascertain the level of potency of what it is they are now judging? Or is it a case misremembering, or a shift in brain chemistry? Then there’s the present malaise; one where the excess of pastiche are pushing people to back into past? From such vantage points, perhaps the only logical thing to do is enhance it? Maybe it’s combination of all these things, however it’s certainly cause for debate. As English dubs the term, “acid nostalgia”, it’s only fitting that the track of the same name is an integral part to his latest release.
Following last year’s excellent Even the Horizon Knows Its Bounds, The Rest Is My Ghost is every bit its match. Like, its predecessor, English follows a similar creative process, drafting in a swathe of talent from all corners of the globe – many of whom have featured on his legendary Room40 label. The Necks’ Chris Abrahams and Tony Buck, Swans’ Norman Westberg, Water Damage’s Thor Harris, pedal steel maestro Chuck Johnson as well as The Australian Voices choir, Vanessa Tomlinson, Madeleine Cocolas, Mats Gustafsson, Lena Ito, Peter Knight, Sean Mackenzie, Brodie McAllister, Heinz Riegler, Richard Sanderson and Rully Shabara, weaving their own threads through English’s latest patchwork.
And with time it may be one of the Australian experimentalist’s most accomplished. This is widescreen Lawrence. Immersive, greyscale drone that casts the darkest shadow of all. Take Acid Nostalgia, which is ultimately a stern instruction from the void. English, producing the same charred textures and hypnotic tones he administered alongside Jamie Stewart earlier this decade through the lens of their Hexa project.
Lawrence English - The Rest Is My GhostIt’s a circuit breaker, as English and his guests move through said void with an unsettling amount of grace. Almost likes it’s their natural habitat. English finds beauty in the darkness, confronting various shades of it through these compositions. Something that can be consumed as one monolithic, all-encompassing composition. Each piece, rolling seamlessly in the next like a filmic blur.
However, there are some vital snapshots. Featuring McAllister and Riegler, One Line Sky undulates through the mist, breaking into a bass heavy drone that breaches the walls that lead to deep-listening. The subtleties, evoking heartfelt reactions, and from the void, English reaches up, confronted with new land on which he builds. Metabolic City and Aerial Cables, sonic backdrops to the kind of outer worlds you envision in a Philip K. Dick novel.
It’s provocative stuff, and while nostalgia is the focal point, with so many voices hidden in layer upon layer, The Rest Is My Ghost moves through the mind with wonderful restraint. Its dark pulse, so dynamic that it can be anything you want it to be. Ultimately, it’s the embodiment of ambient composition. English has been at this for so long that the only logical conclusion is to become better with age. And he proves it on The Rest Is My Ghost. The most crucial time, right now.
The Rest Is My Ghost is out now via Room40. Purchase from Bandcamp.
