Rest Symbol

A sticky distillate of dissociated exotica, orchestral ambience, psychedelic dub and smoke-choked soul, rest symbol's self-titled debut oozes through the crumpled wreckage of British downtempo music. The enigmatic London-based trio of Molinaro, Moreiya and Wendy Lavone reactivate ingredients that have nourished the underground for decades, circling the spread with ravenous irreverence: Crumbly breaks are brushed off grid and reduced to caramel, viscous string phrases oxidized under tape noise and Moreiya's powerful voice gobbled up by cavernous reverb. Trip-hop has been decomposing for some time at this point, and rest symbol's surrealist approach provides a much-needed tonic.

All three of the band's members have accrued plenty of experience, racking up solo releases on Apron, Touching Bass, 5 Gate Temple and Molinaro's own AN1MA imprint, and Moreiya's work as a filmmaker also comes into play here. A still from one of her own grainy, monochrome films adorns the album's cover, and that crepuscular mood permeates the entire record. On 'Empty Sun', fleeting xylophone vamps and celestial library music remnants snake around slow-motion drum phases and Moreiya's whisper-sung vocalizations, while distant diva rave memories are blotted with sinewy orchestral drones on 'ETIUS MOTIF'. Crackly samples emerge and vanish like subliminal frames, spliced and processed to augment rest symbol's inverted songs with Brakhage-style avant ingenuity.