Living Pictures - Crossing The Bridge

Review by Karl Magi

Overall Album Impressions

Living Pictures’ Crossing The Bridge weaves an entrancing sonic tapestry as it unfolds. The music is full of intricate detail, intriguing musical interactions and permeated by complex emotional layers. Living Pictures explores wide ranging soundscapes with a fascinating palette of synthesized sounds across the album.

Each time I listen to Crossing The Bridge I hear some new facet I hadn’t noticed. There’s a great deal of attention to detail in the album that I enjoy. Living Pictures fills each track with richly interwoven sounds, full of texture and tonal colour. There are microtonal interactions and accenting notes that touch the music to lend depth and interest in each track.

The way in which different auditory elements are mingled, contrasted and separated on Crossing The Bridge provides for intriguing listening. Thunderous bass can coexist with delicate sparkling notes, propulsive drums play off with swirling softness and shadows rise from angular harshness to be enfolded by a burst of rushing air. All of these interactions take hold of my ears and hold them.

Another aspect of the album that draws me in is the mixture of emotional states that fills the music. I feel joy, pain, worry, fear and tension unfurling within me as each track flows on. There are so many different states of mind within the music, pulling me in and allowing me to experience them through sound.

My Favourite Tracks Analyzed

“Persistent Dreams” opens as distant, fluting notes float insubstantially as a full-sounding instrument trembles and grunting bass pulses. Rattling, clanking noises shift as airy fluting is joined by a looming background rumble.

The grounding bass slowly flows as wind rushes and drums echo out into space. A warm-sounding synth instrument softly glides, curling around and enfolding me as it draws me into it. Lush piano calls out in lightly touching notes and chiming sounds twinkle.

Drums guide the music in reverberating motion as piano chords add form while they create a vibrating rhythm. Elevated, flute-like sounds drift in tenderly touching motion above dense bass flow. The drums drop away as bending sounds fade along with the flute instrument.

Thunderously booming bass is touched by nervously twitching notes as “Disbelief” begins. Pipe organ-like synth drifts in haunted waves before resolving into an entrancing melody, distant and fragile, touched on the edges by hissing static.

Ghostly sound undulates steadily before being broken by a cymbal. Organ-like synth wanders in a spectral fog while scattered snare drum and pulsing kick drum propel the music.

Medium-high wobbling synth drifts in uneasy patterns as a metallic, oddly vocal sounding synth shivers above thumping drums. Low synth descends as a twisting sonic cacophony writhes through. Harsh, uneven sound trembles while wind rushes and metallic chimes tinkle before silence falls.

“The Sleepwalker’ starts as bending, deep synth carries a lugubrious melodic pattern below shifting, slowly slipping sounds. A woodwind-like synth’s woodsy voice carries a melodic pattern and strings add radiant resonance as elevated chimes trickle.

Woodwind synth carries a melancholy, trembling note pattern while the cello-like strings have a wonderfully heart-tugging ache. The cello-like notes accent the emotive woodwinds and chimes distantly sparkle. Shivering strings add depth and the woodwind gently calls out, dreamy and surrounded by tactile strings as the track ends.

Resonant chimes fill the track with ringing notes that flow over a strongly throbbing drumbeat to open “Crystal Palace.” Gritty bass intertwines in gnarled lines as chiming notes smoothly cascade.

Vibrating notes pulse in descending lines while raised synth shimmers. Dense, slowly shifting chimes add a muffled glow, effectively contrasting with single notes that call out with clarion voices.

The bass steps down below a trembling synth line as soft-edged, glistening notes float. Massive bass adds strength as drums shape the music and lambent flashes illuminate the high end while a string-like sound ends the track with a windy rush.

“The Hunter” begins as extremely low bass moves in slow pulses. Medium-high synth with a nasal sound is joined by open-sounding, breathy notes. Round-sounding synth drifts along while the bass becomes a heartbeat punctuated by flat snare drum.

Low, melancholy synth creates an undulation as xylophone notes rattle and punchy snare drum guide them. I enjoy the layered, interlocking nature of this track. Towering bass waves slip below in vast motion as snare drums rattle and skip. As the bass drops out, bright notes ring and the surging bass rises again along with metallic notes clamouring in a rush before silence falls.

Hissing, steady dripping creates a moist sound to open “Biodome.” Creatures skitter and chirp off in the distance. Low droning synth flows as rich natural sounds flit and float. Watery noises and high, strange chitinous sounds rustle and hollow drums reverberate.

Now the drums burst and drive while xylophone-like synth carries a skipping, fluttering melodic pattern. Reverent choral sounds drift below the tinkling xylophone as lush, low synth moves underneath wandering higher sounds with a lost feeling. Trembling noise vibrates and xylophone flits through in intertwining notes.

Rich choral sounds grow and the track fades on muffled drums and thick hissing sound along with a crunching scrape. This is music that is heavy with atmosphere and sensation, weaving a sonic tapestry that immerses the listener. It evokes the song’s title and leaves me feeling like I’d explored its environment.

“Convergence’ starts as galactic chimes flicker above a wandering, twisting background full of gentleness. Threatening bass adds ear pleasing contrast and majestic pipe organ thunders with triumph into open space. This track is full of great strength and ominous power. Bass flows and tiny synth sparks flutter while lost notes swirl and fade.

Conclusion

Crossing The Bridge takes me on an auditory journey, both broad and deep, full of sunlit corners and deep shadows. I enjoy the way in which the music enfolds me and carries me along, borne on the sonic tides that wash through it.