Times When I Know You Will Watch The Sky Pt. I – Forest Robots (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

Not all music has to make a big impact or get right on with the job straight away. Sometimes the most effective musical communication is all about reserve and understatement, about taking your time and working with slow, gradual build ups, space and minimalism. What they used to call the “less is more” approach. If you are a fan of this angle of attack then the wonderfully named Times When I Know You Will Watch The Sky Pt. I is a song that you will warm to.

This chiming, electro instrumental is all about delicacy and restraint. It spends the first 30 seconds gathering shimmering sounds and then slowly expands on them, but never excessively, never gratuitously. Instead the overall effect is like the first drops of rain coming down followed by a steady strengthening of precipitation. And rain seems like a good parallel to use as the whole song feels somehow transient and ephemeral, a musical mood rather than a song. And this strange and beguiling quality is what brilliantly sets it apart from the makers of more obvious music. Strangeness is good, especially when it is this beautiful.