(2022) Adam Miller - Gateway
Review:
Even though Johnny Jewel’s highly stylized public persona and enigmatic air often put him in the center of attention, Chromatics was Adam Miller‘s band first. When Jewel joined on in mid-2000s, Chromatics evolved into the cinematic synth pop sound they would ride out until their 2021 breakup, but in its earliest iterations, Miller was the founder and sometimes only member of the band as it quickly morphed from ragged art punk to noisy experimental scrawl. The vintage synths, wounded vocals, and filmic production the band grew into resulted in some classic albums, and Miller’s understated guitar work and songwriting contributions were key components of that sound. Gateway, Miller’s first solo album and first surfacing since the Chromatics’ breakup, subtracts everything except his presence from the equation that made Chromatics so mysterious and mesmerizing. A completely instrumental album, Gateway is made up of 18 minimal compositions and brief vignettes, sounding at times like it could simply be isolated guitar tracks from unheard Chromatics songs. Ominous, slow-moving pieces like opening track “Lost Guitar,” “Hologram,” and “Missing Time” all convey the same creeping dread of a David Lynch movie, with no rhythmic elements to fill uncomfortable empty spaces or make the time pass more quickly. Miller explores more ambient territory with the deteriorating synth swells of “Erosion” and the meditative droning of “Blue Energy.” Gateway flows between approaches with the same fluid pacing that Miller’s previous band excelled at. There’s ample negative space throughout, with standout tracks like “Night Bloom” unfolding slowly. Gateway finds a strangely hued middle ground between pop composition and free-floating moods. Miller’s unrushed playing and patient improvisations recall moments from atmospheric outsiders who came before him, bearing traces of influence from Durutti Column’s haunted sketches and Neu! guitarist Michael Rother’s distant interludes, while sculpting a private dream landscape similar to the one Arthur Russell built with World of Echo. Sometimes sullen, sometimes hypnotizing, sometimes peaceful and reflective, Gateway is an all-consuming experience. The album highlights just how essential of a role Miller played in Chromatics, but more than that, it stands on its own as a work of otherworldly grandeur.
Track List:
1.Lost Guitar 01:48
2.The Lucky Star 02:21
3.Glimmerlight 01:39
4.Consulate 03:21
5.HIdden Entrance 02:23
6.The Names Of The Lost 02:30
7.Night Bloom 03:20
8.Libra 02:11
9.Gateway 01:43
10.Voyeur 02:19
11.Blue Energy 01:54
12.The Painted Boy 03:08
13.Hologram 00:48
14.Erosion 01:18
15.Missing Time 03:11
16.Window 00:54
17.The Shared Dream 04:16
18.Alien Summer 01:25
Media Report:
Genre: ambient, post-rock
Country: USA
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
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