Track of the Day: Illum Sphere - 'Thousand Yard Stare'

Track of the Day: Illum Sphere - 'Thousand Yard Stare'

In preparation for his second full length LP to be released November 4th, Illum Sphere teases us with one of the tracks from his forthcoming album 'Thousand Yard Stare'. The title for this track could not be more fitting. I caught myself more than once while listening to this track to write this review, lost staring out into space thinking about something entirely different than what the track was doing. A soft muted kick, quick hitting high hat on every half note, and tambourine comprise a very minimal groove. Surrounding the groove is a array of soft attacking synths that wander about the mix and at times rise and sort of crash over the song like a wave. Keeping the track moving and adding a little drive to the track is a giant plucked bass that comes in about a third of the way into the track. In addition a series of strings that sound a little like they would be coming from a modified harp really add to the overall mix. Halfway through Illum Sphere brings in a brief piano solo that he intertwines with a simple but elegant chord progression that eventually takes over, bringing the track to another level. At 125 BPM I am not sure if I can call this down tempo but this is definitely some well produced subdued ethereal techno. Like I said before it was very easy for me to get lost in my own thoughts while getting down to this. Looking forward to hearing more when they get released on November 4th. Here is another one from his release with Ninja Tune in 2014.