Water. Water is the key, and water is what Sean Conrad, aka Channelers,
aka label honcho at Inner Islands, aims to, er, immerse us in throughout his new ambient masterpiece Essex. I mean, look at that cover, for
crying out loud! That’s a person wading into a lake or something. See those
ripples emanating from the hazy figure disturbing the stillness of the surface?
For all we know, they continue infinitely out of frame. Who cares if that would
fly in the face of physical or thermodynamic laws – physics and thermodynamics
don’t rule my imagination, that’s for sure! Nor do they have any purchase
within the psychological framework of human consciousness. So I can drift in
them for the rest of eternity, on an endless, unbroken liquid plane, and not
even worry about how the universe works. I can just be.
There it is. Just be. Can you
imagine tuning your own consciousness into the exquisite life force of the
cosmos, or expanding your perception of that cosmos so that you realize its
existence inside of you? That’s the whole Inner Islands aesthetic – expanding
within, journeying to the isolated regions where you are filled only and
permanently with peace and harmony. Traversing vast expanses of water. All in
the name of true, uninterrupted rest.
And “Rest” is the track that opens Essex,
all eleven minutes and eleven seconds of it. And because 11:11 is the magic
number on all digital clocks, there’s a numerological element to it that gives
it power. Probably. I’m going to listen to it at 11:11 today and see what
happens. My guess – the song slows time just enough so that it can be played
entirely within that single minute. But that’s just a guess. The track begins
the tape perfectly, introducing the liquid theme with pastoral synthesizers,
recalling Belgium’s Dolphins into the Future at times, and setting the stage
for interior drift. The dual themes – water, introspection – continue with
obvious nods: “Regenerations at the Night Pool,” the gorgeous acoustic
guitar/synth concoction “Moved by Streams,” and the nostalgic “Longing to Swim
in the Realm of My Childhood Dream” represent the former (well, both, I guess),
and “Safe Space” and “Passing My Heart through the Place of Questions” the
latter.
Undoubtedly Channelers, and Inner Islands in general, exists to provide
escapist realms to us weary searchers, those who are disillusioned and fed up
with the insanity of the world around us. And Channelers does that, but not at
the expense of trying to make oneself a better person. Introspection comes with
a responsibility to project that inner tranquility outward, to strive toward
bringing that type of peace to everyone. Remember the old Salvation Army motto?
Sharing is caring, people! Now, let’s all fucking make this world a better
place.
--Ryan Masteller
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