MORNING DEPTH OF THE SUNLIGHT AND EMPTINESS

'Morning Depth Of The Sunlight & Emptiness' - Senmuth (6/10)

In a discography of so many albums, any deviation from the norm or standard style almost guarantees an added degree of praise. When it comes to Senmuth, it is very clear that the man behind this one person project is incredibly talented and dedicated to his work, but his music often falls into ruts, and feels a bit too 'recycled' after a while. After having experienced a ton of Senmuth's work in the form of either metal or 'ethnic ambient,' it comes as a very pleasant surprise when the man decides to do something that's a bit out of his regular zone. With the verbosely titled 'Morning Depth Of The Sunlight & Emptiness,' Senmuth tries his hand at acoustic instrumental music. There is a simplified, warm sound here, but an improvement on the generally loose songwriting could have made this a really great album, instead of merely a 'decent' one.

A unique work for Senmuth, a very noticable difference here is the lack of production and density here that defined many of his other works. While the use of the studio itself as an instrument can often be a beautiful thing, it did seem at times in his career that Senmuth would try too hard to make a very chaotic sound, and the songwriting would often get lost in the sound. In 'Morning Depth,' there are still effects being used, but they are generally kept to a minimum, and only used when appropriate. Often, the only sound the listener will hear will be of the instruments themselves; typically a warm toned acoustic guitar, skillfully performed by the man himself. Towards the latter part of the album, effects are used to a somewhat psychedelic pallour, which at times can give the album the feeling of instrumental 1960's pop.

While this new direction from Senmuth is certainly welcome, the larger problem that still remains with the music is the manner of the compositions themselves. With the clear exception of the title closing track (which excels in every respect), much of the music here sounds very loose, and almost as if Senmuth wrote the pieces on the spot rather than take the time to carefully arrange some truly thoughtful compositions.

Parts of the album have a tendency to take a page from the Spanish flamenco school of thought, which adds a new realm to Senmuth's music and is much appreciated. While the album certainly feels a bit half-baked in terms of the writing of the material, the execution is here, and the last track hints at the potential for something potentially masterful, should Senmuth devote himself to one project in the style long enough to let it grow.

What a skilled guitarist was hidden behind the industrial noise of his first albums. Well, it's question of tastes, but this short album, less than 35 minutes, shows the acoustic side of this artist.

The spanish classical guitar and the feathers on the cover sleeve seems to say that Senmuth has changed continent. The music on this album doesn't have the almost usual Egyptian/inidan/Far Eastern flavour. It's like he's now exploring an area between the southwest of USA and Mexico, so the native american culture.

"Deep Your Eyes" is one highlight on which the classical guitar is played quite fast. The following very short track has a sense of Krautrock for its repetitivity. Emptyness Inside is intriguing and it's only when he comes back to his usual realms like in "Waking Up For Reality" that his composing appears weaker.

All this acoustic and classical guitar on the same album is an unexpected new for Senmuth. Of course who is looking for "Experimental/Post Metal" will not find any of the two here.

The album continues as a collection of classical guitar pieces until the ending track. "Morning Shadow", even if still on North-American chords has drums and bass, so respect to the rest of the album it sounds loudly and rock.

It's a very good instrumental track, instead, still with many newage-ethnic elements.

This is a very unusual album in Senmuth's huge production. Not something that I was expecting to hear. Good for lovers of relaxing environments and acoutic guitar.