- In 2014, Jordan Rothlein highlighted the "light touch" applied to Arcarsenal's FH:03, a house record with humming synth pads and an autumnal warmth. The latest 12-inch from a member of that duo, Solune, is even more sensitive. The Hierophant, whose title refers to a tarot card displaying a pope-like figure, draws from the spiritual deep house of Ron Trent. (As it happens, the Chicago producer has released on Solune's Bass Cadet Records.) The emphasis is less on the regal synth glides of Arcarsenal's usual work—instead, echo- and delay-laden percussion swirls in the cavernous dark of tracks like "The Vision" and "Sacred Smoke."
Of those two tracks, "Sacred Smoke" has an easier communion with the ether. Improvised funk keys on "The Vision" search in vain for resolution against a bright synth beam, while "Sacred Smoke" uses tumbling hand drums and an echo-heavy clap to suggest sensual movement in an endless expanse. The electroacoustic ambient of "Idiom Of Peace," with its resonant crackle of guitars, keys and idiophones, summons a more pastoral space. As does "Rhythm School," a track that recalls Solune's music with Alan Mathias as Arcarsenal. The Hierophant's percussive signatures are bathed in funk-gilded chords and synth harmonies, which casts a warm light on Solune's delicate webs of rhythm.
TracklistA1 The Vision
A2 Sacred Smoke
B1 Rhythm School
B2 Idiom Of Peace