Following 2007′s Ocean Fire, this is Christopher Willits and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s second collaborative effort. The result is a richly textured album which shimmers and resonates. Unlike Sakamoto’s collaborations with Fennesz, which sometimes feel like Fennesz is staying out of the way and just adding minimal ambience to Sakamoto’s piano playing, Willits and Sakamoto seem fully immersed with this collaboration. The atmosphere is heavy; Sakamoto’s piano is always treated and sustained, and seems to melt into the rest of the music. On a few songs, a slow heartbeat thumps away in the background, giving the drifting compositions a bit of momentum. Willits contributes some guitar, but it’s sometimes hard to tell exactly which instrument is making which sound. The album can seem minimal and slow-moving, but there’s plenty going on if you listen closely. For example, “Levitation” seems to shift between a few notes suspended in several layers of drone, but towards the end, it seems to do this subtle quaking effect. It feels like it could erupt, but it fades out and ends before it gets a chance. Overall, a beautiful, quietly powerful album.
