Nice artwork. I like this sort of thing. I didn’t know of Endless Dive before this came my way but it’s evident that they are of an artistic persuasion, speaking of visualising the music and managing the intensity of the songs. Endless Dive are an instrumental band from Belgium with post-rock, electronic and even hardcore influences. This is their second full album release.
The opening track “Blurred” gets us in the mood with its ambient, post-rock, trip-hoppy feel. You’ll gather from this that it’s not extreme. By contrast it’s soft and lush but soon it expands into a heavier, more expansive territory as post-rock does. It’s got a vibe to it but it’s just the taster really. I loved the shadowy echoes at the end – very suggestive. The title song builds on this nicely with a bright and breezy post-rock number. When there’s so much misery around, it’s good to be listening to something that gives hope and blue skies as this does. Towards the end it becomes more reflective. It’s always delicately done. The shadowy and patchy sound waves intriguingly reappear for “La Ciguë” (Hemlock). This is our brief journey into the uncertain and perhaps frightening cosmos. Eventually we break through with powerful and deliberate instrumentals. We remain out there. From the world of uncertainty we pass back to the brighter spheres of “Elevator to Silence”. To a steady guitar heartbeat, the track takes us away dreamily before the colour scheme expands once more and we’re in a world of crashing guitar waves and vibrations. It’s a rich and suggestive mix.
Again, in contrast, Ingeborg – a place or a name? – directs us towards melancholy. If that had us dreaming, then “Archimboldi” wakes us up out of our stupor with its clear ringing guitar line. The energy drops off and the mood now is one of a lazy summer’s day. There’s never any context with these things, although the publicity that came with this did tell me that the album is part inspired by the poetry and photos of Arthur Sente. Unfortunately, this name meant nothing to me and my enquiries didn’t get me very far. With instrumental albums, it’s always a hard one to call but whilst I appreciated the musicianship and ambiance of this album, and was able to create my own pictures, they are quite disparate and a series of tableaux rather than a coherent story or journey. “Topique Triste” (Sad Topic) is far from sad, and builds up to be the most exciting and vibrant experiences on the album, contrasting with the sad and dreamy tones of “The Red Poet” which follows. And goodbye it is as we end with the breezy, fluttery “Au Revoir”, a post-rock track which as others before it finally explodes into epic colours.
“A Brief History of a Kind Human” is a series of atmospheric snapshots and passages. We can tell ourselves what the story or the journey is, but we need the artist to help us with that, and Endless Dive certainly do, although I struggled to find continuity in it. It is though a nice, thought-provoking album and a very pleasant listen.
(7.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
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