In the middle of the night, that’s when it hits hardest. The embrace of emptiness; the cold internal monologues that can’t be easily switched off; divergent paths, all leading to the same fate. When these thoughts pervade and overwhelm, the journey back toward the light is long, difficult. Yann Novak’s Lifeblood of Light and Rapture captures this moment of clarity where we push back and attempt to traverse the razor-sharp tightrope.
Novak’s sound design is always first-rate. The tones across Lifeblood of Light and Rapture are glassine yet warm. “The Ecstasy of Annihilation” shimmers like light refracting over water, gently hovering in wide-open spaces, the synthetic chords in constant slow-motion. Obscured, distorted layers rise and fill in the blanks, never burying the crystalized sonics, but finding alluring ways to exist in harmony. Held close, “The Ecstacy of Annihilation” breaks down the last walls holding us back.
Coalescing toward the final passage before dawn returns, “Silence Will Hang in the Air (When We Are Gone)” is a welcoming sonic hug. Novak stretches the palette into viscous aural fluctuations that, again, bring these two complementary components into something bigger, something brighter. Centered amongst the floating reverie are feelings of hope and relief; an acknowledgment of the long, inhospitable journey to find a soft place in the sun.
Destructive forces are constantly at work, looking for holes in our resolve, but Novak’s music echoes a determination to persevere. Lifeblood of Light and Rapture is all about equilibrium, whether it’s the sonic elements he so beautifully balances or the holistic darkness that exists and will always be part of us, staying in check so that a brighter tomorrow can eventually rise from the mountain of ash we’ve created.
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I listened to this on a very hot day at a beach this summer and it was an eerie, but ultimately beautiful experience. Definitely one of my favorites of his.