A recent EP release from Viktor Benev brings together a series of vast and spacious textures creating atmospheric soundscapes. Throughout the unfolding of the record, you gradually get attached to the feelings they create and find yourself freely drifting while memories of your own pop up in your head.
The Five Dreams EP is a very cinematic and driving record that gently rocks you from one emotion to another as the pieces grow into different, almost ethereal sonic scenes. By the time you get halfway through the record, you begin anticipating a little bit of the unexpected.
What's brilliant about this release is its broad spectrum of sounds that come together. There are a series of natural sounds and organic instrumentation that intermingle with digitally driven tones, which melt and mend together in an almost seamless fashion as the songs take on personalities of their own.
The whole instrumental sequence is beautifully woven together, feeling as if a certain catharsis was relevant in a way for the tracks boast strong emotional drive.
Diving deeper into the arrangements, one finds that during the creation of this work much attention has been given to the small details, while preserving a certain freedom. To me, it's extremely relatable in the sense that these songs seem to be pulled from some emotional intensities that are looking for a way out. I find it ingenious that Benev was able to convey them to the listener and bring them to fruition. You rarely hear instrumental works that portray pieces of the artist himself. I find this is a perfect example of precisely that.
Depending on how the aesthetic is portrayed, hints of improvised bits and pieces keep your ears tuned in and refreshed.
The search for a particular aesthetic for the record is evident and displays the craft of being able to take thoughts and emotions and like clay, mold them into musical ideas.
I particularly admired the way each composition provides you with a storyboard and incites your mind to fill it up with emotional narratives, just like reading a book. To me, this makes the album very personal.
The piano and key work across all five pieces is outstanding. Great synth pads fill the canvas and give certain tracks a very pleasant spaciousness, which makes you float through a dream.
After listening one stays with quite a few questions: Are these five dreams connected conceptually? Were they inspired from dreams five nights in a row? What's the driving force that embodied them in sonic installments?
I'll leave you find the answers yourself while enjoying the record. The emotional ride is guaranteed with everything from peace to torment.
I would suggest listening to the whole EP from beginning to end and doing so with headphones on so you could soak in everything that's going on.
No interruptions. Trust me, dive into this one and you won't be disappointed.
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