Essay - Crying at Day/Night

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  • You hear a lot about how the internet has ravaged the music scene; how it's killed physical sales, cheapened the mixtape and enabled lazy bedroom producers. With all the noise, it's easy to overlook the good it can do, like plucking a 21-year-old from small-town Germany and dropping him onto the debut 12-inch of a London-based label. Raised from the multitude of aspiring SoundClouders, Simon Schilling—AKA Essáy—was first introduced by Glyph back in January, via the digital-only Morning Mountain. That too was an internet marvel, Schilling doing over the panoramic ambient of Rhian Sheehan, a producer based even further afield—New Zealand. This debut physical release from Glyph presents four new tracks, as well as offering "Morning Mountain" on wax for the first time. John Talabot and Tycho are two names the label has compared Schilling to, and they're not far off the mark. As Talabot did with "Oro Y Sangre" and Tycho with "Hours," the young German stands somewhere in the lush middle ground between ambient, house and instrumental pop. Though it canters on a gentle beat, for instance, "Crying at Day" is subdued and atmospheric, a feeling further enhanced by its meek bells and smudgy chords. "Crying at Night" channels a similar vibe, threading sky-sized, gaseous synths around muffled piano. As they press upon your ears with weary optimism, both cuts seem to demand headphones and a comfy chair. "Old Times," a collaboration with Thought Tempo, is similarly emotional, convincingly inducing nostalgia. Whether the title/idea came before or after the music is unclear, but the track's honeyed synths and homely beats render it as comforting and familiar as the previous two.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Essay - Crying At Day A2 Essay - Crying At Night B1 Essay feat. Rhian Sheehan - Morning Mountain B2 Essay & Though Tempo - Old Times
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