DESCRIPTION:
Lovely new LP from Alex Smalley and Simon Bainton's UK based drone project, their second full-length for the Barge imprint. Pausal's sound is a sprawling, cinematic one, perhaps closest to "Choral"-era Mountains, were one wanting of a sonic referent. Pads, computer processing, field recordings and strings ebb and flow with a richness that is often absent from contemporary in-the-box ambient music. Portions of "Forms" remind me of private New Age works from the 70s- with zither-like tones set against cycling, rapturous guitar loops and soaring synths- but decidedly rooted in the now. These recordings take the romantic minimalism that characterized their debut for Barge (and the cassette only album, "Autumnal," that I released last year on Students of Decay) to dizzying new heights. Really superb and quite striking compositions. Definitely recommended. ...