Assembled here are ten close mic`d, intimate*, improvised atmospheres, and textures, of crackle and hum. Sparse piano accompanying a super mellow merging of guitar and electronics. The sound of fingers sliding down strings. The delicate picking describing fragile landscapes. E-bow arcs lighting their horizon. Buzzing, bending, and distorting, in places resembling reeds, muted jazz horns. Many of the pieces created carrying a cinematic, “love theme”, air. 

All are beatless, bar Walking Toward The End, which is punctuated by a slow, spare, drum machine “boom” “tsch”, while the short Strewn All Over features bursts of broken syncopation, and a contrabass-line. Throughout, the arrangements are balletic, moving to a carefully measured Kankyo Ongaku-like mindful metre, conjuring images of a still, motionless, ocean. 

Speaking Quietly is prettily pastoral. The reverb-ed tremolo twang of Rags is reflective, romantic, hovering above a vapour haze of sustained synth swell. The music collectively cementing the set as recommended listening for fans of G.S. Schray, and Suzanne Kraft’s revered Talk From Home. It`s also a must for those into Foxx & Guthrie`s “cult” masterpiece, Mirrorball. 

The Sacramento-based duo of Patrick Hills and Morgan Fox – aka Blank Gloss – released their debut long-player, Melt, on Kompakt, on June 18th. 

*Another musical reference point is Hector Zazou`s John Cale collaboration, First Evening.