Ethereal (FR)
As we have already noted previously for other artists, seeing Ezekiel Honig arrive on 12k is not surprising. A New Yorker, a fan of minimalist electronica and willing to seek out materials in his field recordings or the manipulation of various objects, the American has all the trappings of the typical musician signed to Taylor Deupree’s label; one might even wonder why it took more than twenty years for this encounter to happen. Precisely, if we pick up the thread of Honig’s career, we left it two years ago, with an album written with the Irishman Trevor De Nógla, who was in charge of singing on several tracks. Here, there are ten instrumentals that make up Unmapping The Distance Keeps Getting Closer, in a vein more in line with the rest of the discography of its author, always very comfortable when it comes to marrying urban or sylvan sounds, captured on the fly, and electronic contributions.
The rustlings of “Reconstruction Part 2”, “Editing Is A Lifelong Process” or “Moving Through The Apartment” are thus nicely counterbalanced by a few shimmering chords. In the end, Ezekiel Honig’s notes even give the impression of directly integrating these disturbances into their own ranges, like the grainy melodic sequences of “Reconstruction.” If the treatments thus placed on the layers, chords and keyboard notes prove convincing, one can regret, on the other hand, the relative narrowness of the instrumental palette which hardly goes beyond these contributions. Moreover, accustomed to the presence of disturbances, the listener will find a more peaceful beach, with rounder and cottony tones, suitable for serving as a temporization (“Unmapping The Unmapping”). Such a piece, less dry in its approach but less rich too, makes, in the background, even more interesting the rest of a touching album.