Odori – Gathering Lines
Opening with a light, resonant tone that swells with weight momentarily, ‘Words Floating On Frost Between Us’, the first track on Gathering Lines , is augmented with a graceful layering of sound. Over slightly glitchy electronica, trip-hop beats gently thud, pepper and light-foot their way through a hazy melody, while synth pads shimmer brightly just below the surface. The resulting atmosphere creates the impression of a wintry forest, warm sunlight glinting off the snow and faint traces of fresh, earthy scents still permeating the air, which continues over the remaining five tracks.
Being spacious enough to be called minimal and light enough to be called ethereal may have made the whole thing a bit tenuous, but instead composer Odori has subtly bestowed her instrumental pieces with what I’m going to call the prettiest industrial music I’ve had the pleasure to hear. Metallic notes glitter and shudder rather than buzz and crash, while heavier drone sounds give welcome substance as they occasionally burgeon alongside ghostly echoes and Eastern-influenced woodwind melodies.
‘Foxes’, the fifth track, is a beautiful example of Odori’s compositional talents. Beginning with an ominous drone tinged with sadness, the industrial elements surface gently, spiralling in and out of the foreground as wooden percussion and a haunting flute is introduced. It reminds me of old black and white samurai films and the scenes at the end where the hero must walk on alone, inevitable danger and tragedy poised to befall him … and there ends the scene; his fate either assumed or forever pondered.
Bringing together elements of melancholy and the naturally sparse atmosphere of winter with warm emotions can often be quite commendable, or even noteworthy, if not something that’s altogether new. Mixing them in with the earthy notes of wooden instruments – both percussive and melodious – as well as subtly refined electro-industrial, has made for a wonderfully nuanced, elegant EP that is a little bit haunting and a little bit inspiring.