Album Details

• Artist: En
• Album: Already Gone
• Label: Students of Decay
• Year of Release: 2012
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2012-04-14

California duo En have had their music described as "dream-drone," and that is about right. In fact, a lush, dreamlike ambient drone is not only the most dominant tone on "Already Gone," at times it becomes a burden on the set. There is a fine line between a signature sound and a repetitive sound that begs for variation, and En straddle that line often on their secondfull-length.

"Lodi" shimmers with an almost whimsical sci-fi drone, growing
in volume but not in vibe "The Sea Saw Swell" is slower, a Krautrock-like
ambient, with bird song and again a rising in volume toward the end. The next
two tracks, "Marble Steppe" and "Already Gone" are constructed essentially the
same.

The nineteen minute closer (and a complete side B on the LP), "Elysia," gives James Devane and Maxwell August Croy  room to explore that dream-drone but to add colors to it, to allow it to echo and resonate against other, louder tones, to hypnotic and often powerful effect. The guitar and what sounds like a koto or zither have more of a chance to interact and stretch out; Devane's guitar in particular offers surprising tangents to their foundational theme.

Mastered by James Plotkin and limited to 500 LP copies (w/digital downloads), "Already Gone" will be here and gone pretty fast. En may linger longer than that. They have a great feel for delicate but meaty soundscapes that, with some variation, would be more powerful than they seem at times on this set. Still, the duo know their way around the world they are invested in creating, and "Elysia" shows that world is more than capable of
expansion and depth.

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