Solitude. Something as craved as it is feared. You can embrace, or avoid. Solitude can be felt whilst in a crowded room just as much as it can exist with you in the corner of an empty room. Do these moments really need a soundtrack? Life itself spews a million auditory stems at you so why would you need music? Maybe you would use it to help you feel like you were not alone, or maybe you need it to shout out the busy world and help you focus on your own inner wellbeing. Music that can be enjoyed in solitude is genreless. People can absorb the heartbreak of traditional folk music or blast their senses with extreme noise. What works for you is up to you, your setting and your mindset. Unfortunately there is a slew of music being created by those who find themselves wishing to be the next Eno as they write their latest bland attempt at “ambient” music. Boxes are ticked, cliches are adhered to. Uninteresting music for uninteresting times. But within that vast digital sea of music you will every now and then come across a work that presents itself as a welcome island. A place where things are elevated above the norm. Music that delivers in its mission statement.
One of these such albums is the latest by Emlyn Ellis Addison aka Clocolan. When The Emptying Sun Filled The Sky is nine tracks of the most intriguing and heart-bursting joyful music. Each piece lasts between three – five minutes which is an important element in what makes it such a great listen. There are no long-form meandering pieces where Clocolan gets bogged down in repetition for repetition’s sake. Instead, the album displays the artist’s gift for song structure and arrangements. Clocolan must have a real gift for self-editing as you can imagine that what we are gifted here must have been chipped and shaped from much longer musical ideas.
Another major factor in what makes this such a good listen is the outpouring of human emotion that permeates throughout. Human voices are used as distant, haunted guides..a connection to the world around us as the music becomes more and more otherworldly. It reminds of artists such as Pole, Burial or even the returning Boards of Canada who all have that magic knack of making music that is so alien yet so beautifully human.
Billed as “a soundtrack to solitude” When The Emptying Sun Filled The Sky actually makes you feel more connected and more secure with the outside world with each listen. It is a concise, extremely well produced love letter to this world and any that exist outside of it.
A remarkable album.
Clocolan Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook | Bluesky
Review by Simon Tucker
Keep up to date with all new content on Joyzine via our
Facebook | Bluesky | Instagram | Threads | Mailing List