The Breakdown
Simon Bailey used to be in early 2000s band Pony Face – a band that also had Anth Dymke, a regular on our review pages from his solo work and collaborations with Golden Fang and Jo Meares. Through his label Pony Face Records, Bailey has just released an exquisite collection of instrumentals in his new album ‘Moonscapes’.
Rather than tracks, this album is more a collection of resonant emotions and moments – floating on a cotton wool bed that is undulating and pulsing with gentle waves of liquid synths and yearning guitars. There is a dreamy ambience to the tracks that enchants and mesmerises. Bailey says of the album:
In the last few years, I got the opportunity to score and produce music for some independent films and documentaries. I have always wanted to release a purely instrumental soundtrack record and as an outcome of the film and documentary collaborations, I found I had a lot of material ready to go. Although the various sound pieces from this body of work magically fitted together and I could cherry pick from a vast quantity material, the finishing of this album was easier said than done. Picking the forest from the trees in long ambient music is a head fuck. But that said, Moonscapes stands as the most atmospheric project I’ve ever been involved in and a satisfying and fulfilling experience.
As an example of the sonic elegance found in the album track, opening ‘Flutes’ is almost a single held note that lulls you into a trance, elegant and atmospheric before guitars gently crumble into the mix.
‘Dream Sequences’ floats in the skies above faint distant percussive beats while synths paint broad daubs on the canvas in an atmospheric haze. A single off the album, it comes with a mesmerising video using footage from the film ‘In the Meantime’, a independent feature film by Nicholas Anthony (@northoftheriverfilms) which captyres the feelings of grief and regret augmented by the weeping sounds:
‘Antigua’ has a spacey drone with fuzzy guitars and dappling keys sparkling like stars. ‘Italian Surf’ picks up the pace and takes us on a star-spangled journey with wailing guitars and synths that ebb and flow. Guitars emit hums as if bowed, while the ambient keys swirl around like whirlpools, drawing you into their folds.
‘Moonscapes’ is a fitting title for this collection of instrumentals – the tracks seem almost extra-terrestrial, bleak and beautiful, a distant vision of sparse elegance that floats in the ether like a necklace of stars.
Bailey sites an impressive list of influences: drawing inspiration from artists like Eno (Music for film, Discreet Music) Vangelis, Alice Coltrane, Laurie Anderson, Warren Ellis, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Angelo Badalamenti, Moondog, Jóhann Jóhannsson and Sven Libaek.
To this, I would add detectable elements of Sigur Rós and even Air with Bailey’s ability to wring emotion from music, adding unspoken dialogue that tells stories through the expressive instrumentation: stories of dreaming, traveling, psychedelic soundscapes and celestial spheres.
‘Moonscapes’ is out now and available to download and stream through the link above (including delicious sounding vinyl)
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