Loving ... "Triptych" by WASH

I will admit when I am wrong ... and I was wrong to sleep on this rather special release from Warren Daly of Invisible Agent Records.

As the blurb on their bandcamp page states ...

WASH features music by Warren Daly (Invisible Agent), Alex Leonard (Ebauche) and Hal Fx (Audio Mainline). A hybrid soundscape of rhythm, synthesis, live instrumentation and location recordings, guided by the poetry and spoken word of Scott Bywater.

... and, for me, it is a fantastic collaboration well worth checking out.

"Triptych" features three longish-form pieces ... there or about 30 minutes each ... that follow a rather unique pattern - poetry underpinned by heady, electronic soundscapes formed through field recordings, ambient guitar, and manipulation.

The imagination that is poured into these pieces is obvious for all to hear. The music provided is as deeply immersive as a sound recording of the very busy Phnom Pen can be ... a sonic milieu of traffic, people and noise ... crafted through clever manipulation into these rich, vibrant soundscapes that loop and morph whilst underpinning some lovely ambient guitar and Bywater's expression.

I'm not a big fan of spoken-word but Scott Bywater's deliver is a delight ... his stream-of-consciousness presentation with a low-key Antipodean accent is easy to follow and rather hypnotic ... helped by the combination of music (especially guitar), beats, and field-recordings that form the walls-of-sound that back him.

These are pieces that require commitment ... you cannot dip in and out of them, you need to listen from start to finish ... I certainly found that when I did, I was richly rewarded. In fact, this is the kind of music I would absolutely love to hear live ... it has a live vibe about it. I can only imagine the audio/visual experience this could be with visuals projected on stage as WASH played. There is something very visual about their music!

I look forward to more from them and promise not to sleep on their next release. Have a listen below to see what I mean:


In addition, Scott Bywater's poetry as used in this recording can be found & downloaded >> here.

Tx