Atoms and Void‘s “This Departing Landscape” is, appropriately enough, atmospheric. This is in the sense of the video, a haphazard, awkwardly beautiful collection of found footage from years of touring and recording, but it’s also in the sense of the way the song plays out. Quiet vocals drop out only a minute through, paving the way for careful electric guitar to call out into the void. The guitar keeps calling and calling and calling and the piano and the drums and the bass keep growing and growing and growing until the piece burns out and fades away. It’s the audio representation of the maxim “life is about the journey, not the conclusion”, which makes for a wonderful ride.
“To my ears (and now eyes), [‘This Departing Landscape’] is an expression of what it feels like to make a departure from the landscape of the past while appreciating the present and racing headlong into the future,” says the band’s Arlie Carstens. “Scarred and stumbling, yup. Anxious, weathered and dismayed, yup, but with optimism and inquisitiveness somehow still intact. It is the sound of togetherness; of choosing life and love over death and decay. It is the sound of remaining awed and open to joy. To put it another way, it is the sound of departure; of skipping, running and jumping toward the light. Corny as all that might sound, it’s the truth. Life is weird and heartbreaking but it is also an incredible gift. It is the same with music.”
and nothing else released May 20th.