By Deuce
There are not a lot of Long Players out there today, or any other day, for that matter, that sound too much like Ontogensis, NTHNL’s most recent album. One might easily have inferred so from the title of this opus or from the name of the artist (who also goes by Jacob Rudin.
In fact, the most accessible facet of the piece may be its artwork, which only hints at the depths and heights traversed by the artist during this outing.
It might be a little too easy, and perhaps even dismissive, to characterize this effort as one that’s somber. Almost all the tunes are bereft of any sort of drums or percussion. The pianos in them are mostly haunting and slow. Plus, they’re ensconced in enormously elongated synths, which the artist has endowed with a sense of crescendo in several passages.
Interestingly enough, the majority of the song titles are verbs. There’s tunes like “straightening, dispersing”, “nourishing, holding”, “transmitting, unraveling, communing”, and several more where those come from. The action within these ditties, however, is oftentimes implicit.
In fact, NTHNL reveals his whole hand early on the opening number “welcome procession”. He takes his time getting going, choosing instead to focus on a single piano note. It’s eventually followed by several others, including some that have a penchant for deftly dancing within the framework of what some might characterize as a dirge.
But there’s no mistaking the cloudy or rainy day feel and appeal of the number, which is demonstrative of that of the rest of the LP, as well. Any dissidents, doubters, or skeptics to the fact that NTHNL was deep in the zone while laying this project down need only check for “nourishing, holding”.
Aside from being one of the rare song titles (but not on this album) that contains punctuation, it begins with the unmistakable sounds of waves breaking. The oceanic connotations work well with the brooding, lengthy synth notes that increase in volume and intensity as the work goes on. Some sort of wind instrument, which may very well be bagpipes, punctuates it with tinges of emotion. But for the most part the cut meanders along, unfurling at its own pace—as does the album as a whole.