tl;dr is a new project on the Australian scene, led by the pretty well-known trumpeter on that scene Peter Knight, but this time he comes in a little bit different, because he arrives with a group of younger people. While Peter is on electronics, trumpet and live signal processing, there are Helen Svoboda on double bass and vocals, Theo Carbo on guitar and electronics, and Quinn Knight on drums.
This record sounds pretty different than the rest of what Peter Knight has. In their description it says that they’re inspired by music like Brian Eno, The Necks, and Jon Hassell. I agree that it can be noticed since the first track starts — it has the rhythm section of The Necks, the Jon Hassell trumpet, and the ambient of Brian Eno. I feel like many of us have already wanted to hear a combo of these types of sounds. The repetitiveness in the first track, combined with the ambient trumpet sounds with effects — I’d say that with the type of vocal and electronics it contains, it adds a flavor of the dreaminess that artists like Orbital or Future Sound of London bring. Like if you only get the dreamy part of them.
The second track carries a different vibe with it. It has a more contemporary and modern feel to it, it brings in the sound of Scandinavian jazz. It has a more free vibe, the guitar takes the lead more than in the previous track, and it has those intertwined sounds. The length of the tracks lets them flow into different types of sounds — even though the repetitiveness of certain instruments still stays, it’s not the typical rhythm section repetitiveness here. It’s more like string instrument loops that carry the track, while the drums and trumpet are more fluid.
The third track continues with the Orbital type of sound. I mentioned the length of the tracks earlier because on this one too it can be noticed — it builds up with a spiritual intro, similar to those ‘90s spiritual rave tracks where you have the sublime opening of a female vocal with an angelic voice. That happens here — Svoboda’s vocal just spreads around, with some of the instruments slowly coming in. This gives space to the track to have a very slow development, which makes it nice, because it gives room for experimenting with different effects. There is a great delay on the drums later as the song continues. Great experience for the calm listener.
Then, when the last track starts, I can say the Jon Hassell influence can be felt from the beginning. In this one, the trumpet takes the lead — maybe that’s why the Jon Hassell influence stands out. While writing the review, I noticed that it seems like every track has its own main instrument that leads it, which is really nice for the flow of the album.
Apart from all the comparisons I made about what sounds like what, it’s just a refreshing combo to hear from people from the young generation of jazz. Beside all the energetic things happening, a calming sound like this, inspired by great musicians, is always a good thing to exist. The thing that made me stay with this album was the unrushed energy it carries — just that slow and foresty feeling of cleansing and peace.
And to honor the post-modern name of the album (which caught my eye to listen to in the first place), the tl;dr version of the review:
Great, calm album, with a noticeable influence from great artists that we all like, like Jon Hassell, Orbital, Brian Eno, and The Necks. Coming from young artists on the Australian jazz scene, together with the well-known Peter Knight.
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