Consumingly rhythmic soundscapes shine across Gentle Worship, a standout album created by percussion trio Perc Ens, in collaboration with composer and artist Nathan Hall. Spanning both sparse percussive minimalism and rumbling momentum, Gentle Worship was conceptualized from a collection of baguette-shaped prehistoric lithophones discovered in the San Luis Valley of Colorado, and believed to be 2000-6000 years old. Perc Ens also created the release in collaboration with Marilyn Martorano, the leading archeologist studying lithophones found in Colorado.
“The sounds produced by these ancient lithophones are brought to life by the musicians playing them; it touches your soul and gives you a personal connection to human musical creativity of the past and today,” Martorano says.
A sense of timeless introspection lingers aptly throughout the album’s sound — both in its archaeological inspiration, and within an aesthetic that champions spacious atmospherics and hypnotic rhythms, which are fit for ethereal contemplation. The album’s creation process echoes this connection to our shared human ancestry, with the compositions and recording being accomplished in a naturally reverberant recording studio (The TANK Center for Sonic Arts in Rangely, CO). The location invokes humanity’s artistic past within naturally reverberant spaces, from prehistoric caves with their unique acoustics to bustling events at ancient amphitheaters.
Opening the release, “Movement I” builds with enjoyably unpredictable flair — as sporadic percussive pattering maneuvers with various degrees of force, showing a climactic intensity before a lulling silence. “Movement II” then attains a more meditative-friendly engrossment, as soft chiming flows with more familiar tendencies — and into a clanging vibrancy at its enjoyable conclusion. The project’s ambient charms then arrive in “Movement III,” where rustling effects and trickling rhythms combine for a soundscape reminiscent of forest scavenging. Across its opening three tracks, Gentle Worship already showcases a clear tendency for inventive soundscapes and artful structural expansion.
A more expressive rhythmic force shows on “Movement IVa,” where both serene clanking and bellowing layers coexist within shifting percussive intrigue. The album’s interlude maintains the deeper percussive tones of that track, and epitomizes the aforementioned rumbling momentum apparent at points, like on “Movement VI.” Preceding that, “Movement V” is an enveloping success — incorporating wordless vocal elements, converging like a ghostly choir, adorned with occasional twinkling and a spine-chilling concluding whistle.
Embracing an airiness in its chirping aspects and touches of cavity resonance, “Movement VII” incorporates the album’s various strengths — from ambient seamlessness to climactic rhythmic emergences, capping off the series of movements with fantastic allure. The ensuing “Breadth” eschews rhythmic prominence for airy oscillations, feeling like a nocturnal counterpart to “Movement V.” Playful, prancing percussion then return on “Dressing and Trimming,” which sets the stage of the subdued pit-pattering within album finale “Peepers.” Gentle Worship is an enthralling success, immersing in its dynamic soundscapes, archaeological inspiration, and textured compositions.
Gentle Worship releases on September 26th, and will be accompanied by a vinyl version.
