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As a producer, electronics pioneer, multimedia artist and self-confessed non-musician – and that’s just the tip of an iceberg that could sink a fleet of Titanics – Brian Eno has a reputation as a singular figure in the cultural firmament that was cemented a long time ago. But his ongoing commitment to the creation of new works is also deserving of applause.
And so it proves once again with the simultaneous release of these two albums, Luminal and Lateral, made in collaboration with Anglo-American conceptual artist and composer Beatie Wolfe after they met through their shared environmental work at the South By Southwest festival.
Be it Robert Fripp, David Bowie, Harmonia or so many others, Eno’s work as a collaborator has always contained an extra dimension of satisfaction – both parties pull the best out of each other to create works that are recognisably them, but which couldn’t have been achieved on their own.
What makes Luminal and Lateral so satisfying is that the launchpad of ambience sees each album taking off in its own direction before they cross paths mid-flight. According to its creators, the first album (of 11 songs) is “dream music;” while the second (one long and luxurious swim through warm ambient waters, or eight movements if you’re listening digitally) is “space music.” It’s not difficult to understand why.
Luminal is the most conventional of the two, but only in the respect that Wolfe’s honeyed and breathy vocals carry verses, choruses and lyrics, with a number of the songs rooted in American vernacular music. My Lovely Days is the kind of ambient gospel music that would see Spiritualized’s Jason Pierce sell his soul; while the shimmering blues of Hopelessly At Ease tugs at the heartstrings.
Elsewhere, Shhh hangs together by the most fragile of threads and the near-overwhelming beauty of Suddenly is gently propelled by an ascending chorus, gentle guitars and the kind of delicate twinkles that illuminate the night sky.
Admittedly, the gossamer ambience of Lateral doesn’t break any new ground – but then again, it doesn’t need to, because so few artists have blazed a trail so far into this territory. Gently undulating and wafting like country fragrances on a temperate summer’s day, Big Empty Country Parts I-VIII exists if you want it to, or becomes part of the background if you don’t.
Non-music in the finest sense, no one but Eno does this with such a lightness of touch yet such a definitive sense of purpose. A double victory, then, from a pair of idiosyncratic talents.
Luminal and Lateral are on sale now via Verve Records.