Matt LaJoie’s organ and synth project, Thick Air, is such a great change of pace from what I normally expect from his work. Transorbital Cantrips kicks things off by going full boar channeling the rippling arpeggios and glowing patterns of Terry Riley into a spiraling astral projection on “Sky-Clad Robes.” LaJoie is incandescent, traveling into the deep cosmos, surfing the sound waves like a gilded celestial being. “Sky-Clad Robes” is sprawling, a universe unto itself that never stops expanding and finding new passages to outer dimensions.
Much of Thick Air is immersive; a full-body aural massage enveloping listeners inside deep, meditative drones. LaJoie is a guide, using the rolling shimmer of “Orbital Loop” to open a prism where thoughts and dreams blossom into vivid, dancing shapes across the sky. Spiral galaxies explode into existence on “Radial Trance Mission” at the blink of an eye, LaJoie conjuring effervescent synth tones and molding them into ambient crystals. Everything moves skyward, outbound only.
Thick Air’s music is healing and as it permeates the skin, weightlessness takes hold. Floating forward, time and space fade away, leaving only a cloud of impermanence. In the closing shimmer of “Constellation Glow,” the heavens open and the purest light wraps us in the softest embrace. Matt LaJoie is a conduit.
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