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Seeing a title written in Cyrillic lettering on a Western-orientated music site may seem odd. Still, it is a reminder of many truths of the modern musical age. Musically, thanks to technology, the musical world is a small place, no longer bound by either genre or geography. It reminds us too that art, musical especially, is unconcerned by cultural divides. And, even though the words on this album are in Russian, the voice is only one of many instruments that make up the music. Okay, many of you, like myself, will not speak his language well enough to understand the direct communication of the lyrics. Still, the voice is also an instrument in its own right, especially here, where it is often low in the mix, soundscaping, serene, and ambient.
Afterglow is an album of moods as much as it is music. It is a weave of post-rock and alternative sounds that often err on the side of subdued, understated music that reflects feelings and emotions rather than conforming so closely to conventional song structures. It runs on an often darker mood but is shot through with chiming guitars and shimmering dream pop sonics, occasionally gothic shade and lo-fi, bedroom pop vibes, which are enough to pull the music back from the brink, stop it falling into melancholy and pathos.
For the most part, the songs are happier to drift and float rather than grind and groove, возвращение I: рельсы, for example, sounding, musically at least, almost like like something from Cocteau Twins or early Lush at their most relaxed and, similarly, крематорий, being subdued and haunting, dark and delicious. Occasional, explosive moments do occur, such as with забытое в пункте назначения, which means something like “Forgotten Destination” or “Left Behind” (sorry, Russian isn’t my linguistic area) but this is music made for reflection and relaxation, asking the listener think deeply, look inside themselves, contemplate the world and their place in it.
For so long, the world has looked to the West, The US and UK in particular for their musical lead. Thanks to technology, the ability of artists to make music for a modest budget and then make it available almost anywhere in the world is changing. Not just through big, record company-driven cross-over acts hitting the charts but through a host of smaller creatives being able to get their music heard, no matter where they are based in the world. Artists such as “Afterglow.” finally, the technological revolution of recent decades is starting to live up to its promise.
