Written by Marilù Ciabattoni
Discovered via Musosoup
The full-length project Left to Our Own Devices by the electronic duo Bloomfield Machine is an instrumental Odyssey that might as well bring you back to the sci-fi mania of the 1980s, which birthed products like Blade Runner and Dune. The album is overall very chill but it also has a sinister tone to it, as if we’re being hidden something or as if we’re about to experience a twist at any point.
“Reality Collapse” welcomes us with beep sounds that remind me of somebody hooked up to a machine keeping them breathing as they are in a coma. The following two tracks “The Imperative” and “Looking for Leverage” are driven by keyboard chords and they develop the same melody over and over.
“Ghost Passenger” and “Greeble” feature some quiet percussions in the background while “Impression Management” also features some electric guitar which gives the keyboard a break every now and then. This latter song sounds a bit more hopeful than the previous ones, perhaps because the chords follow the major scale.
“Inventing Hope” starts with some pretty incisive beats, sounding like the ground was being bombarded by tiny bombs; “Minister of Loneliness” also features some interesting mechanic sounds at the beginning, reminding me of a construction chain which has no beginning nor end. The second part of the latter song is very gothic and hits harder than the majority of the album, border-lining with grunge and metal.
“Supernormal,” instead, sounds more “electro” than the rest of the album, featuring a faster-paced rhythm and more enigmatic effects to top it all off. With “No Explanation,” we return to a more chill vibe, or should I say ambient. “Zep Tepi” follows a similar structure to the previous track.
The track bearing the funny title of “Illuminaughty” still features the percussions, keyboards, electric guitars and sounds that seem to be coming from a space police movie like Blade Runner or even 1984. It sounds dystopic and enigmatic.
The titles of the track create a nice story in and of itself and they contribute to the narrative of the album even without lyrics. “When Is It Done Really” features percussions and electric guitar riffs, as well as some ethereal melodies which recall the singing of a mermaid from the bottom of the sea.
“Soul Crusher” does try to convey the meaning of its title with incisive percussions and “Inner Beauty Pageant” sounds like it was recorded from a shore on the seaside. To end the album, we have “Levels of Infinity,” which resumes all the styles, features and sounds we’ve seen throughout the album: mysterious yet in-your-face, soft and aggressive.
In general, Left to Our Own Devices is a cool concept album that tells a story without words, making us wonder how far sounds alone can go.
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