In loving memory of the late Eric Barnes, to whose legacy and remembrance FTCHRS is dedicated. Sleep in peace.
Multimedia artist and creative powerhouse JSDavani is back again with a brand new collection of experimental electronica with a distinctive cinematic flair that has become a telling sign of his music. Eerie yet warm, desolate yet living, FTCHRS is a touching collection of sonic pieces that inspire awe and equally instill emotions of loneliness and comfort via its varied but coherent palette.
JSDavani is the moniker of American musical composer and creator Jacoby Davani. A creative mind ultimately, Davani composes and layers his pieces in a unique manner that fuses the impactful musical nuance of Massive Attack’s music with the cinematic grandeur of the aptly named The Cinematic Orchestra, while imbuing every piece of his with a hint of dissonance that makes going through his work for the first time always a compelling challenge.
On my first run of FTCHRS I was positively impressed by the apparent increase in the quality of the artist’s production capacities. This time around the pieces are fleshed-out tapestries of tonal and harmonic character, and the frequent absence of clear melodic motifs is more than made for by the intoxicating, intricate sonic atmospheres that Davani has become comfortable in creating using sound effects and warped instrumentals and vocals. His treatment of the clips used for this collection of songs is a clear display of an artist getting more confident in the sound he’s coming up with and in the sonic character he is striving to achieve.
The tonal character JSDavani was going for is just as expansive and as encompassing as his artistic tendencies. The man composes for film and for experimental photography exhibitions, and his music somehow displays this with its fusion of tasteful harmonic structures and the often smooth-often unnerving melodic forays, mostly using warbled and processed vocal parts and samples to create them. The product is an hour of really well-structured music that carries a challenging edge, while never feeling off-putting or difficult to enjoy. The Radiohead-esque vocal processing, though often difficult to interpret, never sounds obtuse or overwhelming, instead falling in a precise place where it adds value to the music underneath which, regardless of uncommon time signatures or off-kilter compositional choices, never loses a hint of gentleness to their musical and textural contents.
FTCHRS is a definitely interesting affair of experimental music that will undoubtedly be challenging to the uninitiated or the unprepared. But give this album the time it needs, and approach it with a clear idea in mind of what to expect and FTCHRS will not only deliver, it will entertain and inspire just as much.