A thoroughly immersive, dystopian, even nightmarish exploration, Fionnlagh’s ‘What Came Before’ drops the listener into an unfolding flashback of another reality. Soaring synths over dark, brooding sub tones crescendo in a style that already seems a unique hallmark of the artist, with an immediacy that is as transfixing as it is unsettling. A uniquely enthralling experience.
Born of previous shared experience as a guiding light in dark times, What Came Before aims to go further than nostalgia, placing emphasis on the acknowledgement of history’s true nature. Accepting that for one to reminisce and truly reflect on the past, it will serve only to accentuate the present.
Akin to dystopian film scores such as Blade Runner, Arrival and Dune, What Came Before is visually represented by bleak, remote landscapes. Videos using vast, rugged rural footage have been produced by James Tyson (Tundra Tides), using live modular video manipulation. One will be minted as an NFT on Hic Et Nunc, and copies of a full length visual set will be recorded to VHS. 2022 will see remixes from the likes of Warmth, Logic Moon, Hilyard, Lauge, Austin Rockman and Seabuckthorn.
Not for the faint of heart. Engage at your own risk.
“These ebbing and pulsing melodies and windswept soundscapes are presented atop low-frequency patterns, resembling the scores of Jóhann Jóhannsson.” – Avant Music News
“…part soundtrack to our tremendous longing, part echo of the distant and distorted past.” – Headphone Commute
Videos: below, or on YouTube here.
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3 bonus tracks available exclusively on Bandcamp.
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Composed and produced by Fionnlagh
Mastering by Ian Hawgood
Photography by Scott F Jones & Mark Findlay
Videos by James Tyson
www.instagram.com/tundra_tides/
Design by Ambientologist
released November 23, 2021
wallofambient 