Abditory – Currslis (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

There is a beautiful contradiction at work in this latest album from Currslis, a sort of creative opposite attraction that adds to the overall sound’s depth and beguiling nature. Trouble, which kicks this collection of tracks off, is the perfect example of this at work. As the album lays out some ultra-smooth and wonderfully seductive, neo-soul sounds, you realise that the lyrics deliver some far less compromising, perhaps even less comfortable, ideas. And that contradiction makes Abditory, a word I know, refer to a concealed location, a layered and fascinating sonic ride.

From this initial point of departure, Currslis gently pushes the boundaries of their signature sound. There are spacious and atmospheric trip-hop tracks such as Downfall and pieces of dexterous wordplay courtesy of Opera. Some tracks run on glitchy, trap-infused grooves, and there is also the more melliflouus pop sound of Art of Belief, pop but poised, understated, and sensual.

Although Abditory fuses together new adventures in soul, pop, R&B, and numerous urban vibes, it is the overall, non-musical aspect is perhaps the biggest contribution. I say non-musical, but I mean that there is a tone and feeling to the album which is more than the sum of its instrumental parts, a vibe formed not so much by what is explicitly played but perhaps by the way it is played or, should I say, underplayed.

It is not so much the music itself but those additional sounds that collect and contribute, pool and percolate in the spaces between the notes, sounds that linger as one lyric fades out before the next breath is ushered in. These unknown sonics, these more-than-the-sum-of-their-parts sounds, are precisely what every album, song and band need to find in their music if they are to stand out from the crowd. And Currslis have managed to leave enough space for just such a feeling, just such a mood to permeate every corner of their music.