Humblety‘s third album The Dialogue is a dynamic ambient success. It draws inspiration from travels through the American Midwest and Appalachia, pairing impressions of dark hills and mountainous terrain with an exploration of voices, communication, and the modern overload of information. Across its ambient and drone-focused compositions, the project reflects Josh Humble’s long-running fascination with sound itself, informed by interests ranging from jazz and experimental music to electronic forms.
A gorgeously epic album opener, “The Dialogue” ventures from an initial array of delectably unsettling synthesizer pad murmurs into a dreamy arpeggiated blissfulness. The soundscape unveils with gradual, artful allure. Glimmering keys contribute to the chilly overall feeling, with soft ruminations of rhythms eventually growing to a sturdier presence in the track’s second half, where buzzy synth textures and brassy snippets assemble wonderfully. The ensuing “Smile Down Yonder In The Holler” stirs as well, strutting a more industrial, nocturnal realm in its melding of trickling vibrancy with sporadic pulses of eerie beauty.
Another standout, “Forgotten” exudes a ghostly, breezy aura at first, which is then enhanced by spacey electronic tones that prance with melodic immersion. Elsewhere, “Quietness” embraces a meditative, shimmering ascension in its ambient serenity, in contrast to the riveting finale “Last Pass,” whose infectiously jazzy vibe is propelled by rainy-day and click-clacking percussion. An outstanding ambient album from Humblety, The Dialogue is a treat for the ears.
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We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
