Whenever a producer succeeds in crafting a full length album of instrumental music that feels genuinely like a best-of or a compilation mix playlist for long nights, it’s always a pleasure to make your way through the 30 to 60 minute experience, with enjoyment, and feeling ready for anything. The Last Days Of Everything quickly becomes this. The collection – brilliantly referred to as neuromantic chillwave for the post-apocalypse – emerges as a calming array of soundscapes but with notable levels of unpredictable detail and grit. Either first thing in the morning, or last thing at night, is where this album really stands tall.
Intro/Behaviour Modified By Alcaloids and Vermillion (Atomic Bald) kick things off in a bold way, the latter of the two seeing the mood really overtake the room – to the extent that the mind may wander, writing may cease temporarily, the details lead you into your own thoughts in a hypnotic fashion. Offdaywars follows and is an easy early highlight, a stunning piece of music that starts to awaken within you an uplifting energy and a sense of possibility. Despite the reference to war, there’s a peaceful, incredibly warm feel to this that embraces you as it plays out. pagan interface has a way with composition and production that impresses, seemingly utilising organic and electronic music creation in unison, building something that’s difficult to break down to the details, but that provides the perfect, original playlist before you.
Throughout the rest of the journey, Cherry Blossom Glitch is a personal highlight, the ambiance here fuses delicacy and grit among a rhythmic, industrial beat, and it surrounds you in a softly energizing way. Toothless Youth afterwards follows with a similar dreamlike, distant feel, but furthers it with much more of an other-worldly aura. All of this is incredibly refreshing, my only connection with the term glitch prior was the occasional glitch-hop night out, bringing through edgier versions of familiar tracks and veering off down a similarly experimental and uplifting pathway. This makes for something brand new to explore.
Bohemian Electric (A Day For Drugs) picks up the pace a little at first, later switching back and forth between the manic and the calm. There are several threads of identity throughout the project, reminding you of the pagan interface approach, but still each piece has strengths unique to its own few minutes on the stage. There are riffs among tripped-up beats, rhythms that soothe and some that unsettle and awaken you.
S.D.S (Sex Drugs Synths) is a track that takes things down a slighter darker, later night pathway. There’s a haunting aura to this, the echo of the riffs within and the distorted nature of some of the sounds creates an unsteady vibe that fits the concept in an interesting way. Later on, Dead Channels offers something of a Massive Attack vibe, gentle and calming again but still with that pagan interface thread of the experimentally creative. The Wasteland is Burning sounds strangely beautiful afterwards, something like a distant human voice flickers in the distance and reminds you of the underlying ideas.
The album comes to a close with perhaps the most thoughtful soundscape yet, a piece that takes its time to build itself around you. SpaceFunkProstitution is surprisingly peaceful, spacious and almost minimalist but considerately crafted in that every step feels like a progression through the underlying story-line or the thought process of the creative behind it. The whole project is easy to escape within, it’s also incredibly unique in a way that holds close to the drive and expressive desires of the artist. Absolutely worth a download.
Download the album via Bandcamp or stream it on Spotify. Find & follow pagan interface on Soundcloud & Instagram.
