Cuts - A Gradual Decline [Village Green Recordings 048]

Put on the circuit via Village Green Recordings on November 30th, 2k18 is "A Gradual Decline", the latest album outing created by composer and filmmaker Anthony Tombling Jr. under his artistic nom de guerre of Cuts. Opening with the title track "A Gradual Decline" we see Tombling Jr. paving the way for things to come with yearning Ambient soundscapes, off-kilter synths and pounding, organic Electronica / IDM structures whilst "Shattering Through" brings on beautiful synth melancholia, "Polar" polar employs pulses of crackly distortion atop warm, organic IDM / ChillOut before epic, uplifting, trance-inducing arpeggios and hovering pads take over whereas "From Here To Nowhere" drifts off into tender, emotional Piano Ambient territories accompanied by fragile dreamy, dreamlike female vocals from planet ballad. Realizing that "Time Is Not Your Friend" Cuts is drawn into a floating world of cascading synth chords and heavenly background beauty with certain Balearic qualities, "Pollen" are a bit on the romantic, score'esque and cliche side of the Ambient genre with their plangent string arrangements, "Beauty Collapsing" brings forth elements of Clicks'n'Cuts and highly digital Phonk as a foundation for playful melodic structures for advanced dancefloors before "Keynel Panic" leads us only deeper into a highly abstract, yet totally enjoyable variations on string-driven dancefloor Phonk slightly reminiscent of early releases on labels like Skam or by producers like Marco Passarani beatwise being the albums main hit from our perspective and angle. Experiencing "Gravitational Loss" we're floating alongside streams of soft Ambient clouds once again, "Maboroshi" weighs in timeless Electronica / IDM vibes bringing back memories of the softer side of labels like Dyslexic Response paired up with elements of (Neo)Cosmic and the final cut "Fear Of Everything" fully indulges in widescreen, panoramic Ambient for a calm and solemn closing with a bit of a (Neo)Classical twist.

Album artwork on Instagram!