Daniel J. W.McKenzie – Every Time Feels Like The Last…

It is rare that a piece of music can appear cold, yet truly remain inviting. Daniel J. W. McKenzie’s ‘Every Time Feels Like The Last…’ begins stark and spacious, steadily developing as new sounds emerge and distant textures fade across the width of the stereo field in an elusive manner. Within the second track, ‘Unser Blauer Morgen’, subdued tones and muted instruments are given new life as they are shifted by mutated beats and a deep low end, detailing the textural complexity and wide range of instrumental approaches heard throughout the album. The sense of space created by McKenzie is immense, as lengthy reverberation projects the most subtle of sounds far beyond the listener. There are unexpected moments, where heavily distorted sequences are twisted beyond recognition and push all else into the background. ‘Kimberly’, the album’s seventh track, shifts further towards synthetic territories, floating above a constantly expanding and increasingly invasive wall of rhythmic distortion. The standout track on the album is ‘Abandonment II (Twenty Five Years)’, as an intense crescendo, cinematic and heavy, builds and builds towards a gentle and welcomed release. ‘Every Time Feels Like The Last…’ is emerges as Eilean Records’ first release of 2017, selling out via the label within a day of its release to little surprise. By entering the year with such a powerful and deeply moving musical statement, Eilean Rec. and Daniel McKenzie have set a high standard for an exciting 2017 within the realms of ambient and modern classical.