In a semester that’s shown quite a few marquee releases from Madison artists, it’s bound to happen that at least a few go under the radar.
To evade missing any hidden gems, we are delving back in to see what we may have missed over the course of the past few months. The first of which is a charming, thought-inducing record from experimental electronic artist Holven Fora.
Released in September, Who We Are Was Left Behind delivers the kind of clairvoyant, mystifying sound its title might suggest. At 10 tracks, it doesn’t overstay its welcome or impose on anyone. If anything, the listener imposes on the album any thoughts, fleeting or otherwise, they might be having at the time of listening.
According to the artist’s statement, it’s the album that contains the type of music meant to evoke thought and contemplation — the kind of thought one gets when staring in an art gallery. It succeeds admirably in this regard.
Largely synth and piano-based, the album kicks off with three tracks that offer variations on the same core pattern. This feels almost like a warm-up to get the brain’s gears in motion.
From there, each track differentiates, incorporating different instrumental accents and emotional undertones, creating a sense of ambivalent neutrality. Holven Fora does well to evade a pitfall that ambient artists like him can fall into by cultivating a sound that either is too emotionally sterile or too vibrant. Go too far in one direction and it runs the risk of feeling contrived. Go too far in the other and it’s simply boring.
Holven Fora, however, hits that sweet spot. The album is emotionally stirring in a way that molds to reflect whatever emotions and thoughts the listener might be having.
It’s difficult to go into any track in particular, since it’s more of an album experience. But safe to say it’s one that’s worth having.
Consider adding Who We Are Was Left Behind to your rotation of studying music or rainy day playlists.
