Boards of Canada -Inferno

Warp

Nostalgia dealers Boards of Canada return for their first album in 13 years. At just under 70-minutes, it's BoC's longest album since their debut, but not necessarily much longer than their usual releases - they're all within the ballpark of 60-to-70-minutes. They're consistent with the duration of their sonic trips. "Tape 05" would be released in mid-April, before the announcement of an album. It felt like a secret world opening up - are Boards of Canada trying to tell us something? 

Eerie breeze. Calm air met with a tense sense of 'what if?'. Haunting sensations. Robust beats skittering about through serene soundscapes. The mechanical malaise. Factory floors bound by ambient sound. Open spaces. Tripping on nostalgia-laced honey - even nostalgia has its Cheshire grin. Time ceases to spin. The present melts away. Just you and your being: mind, body and soul. Align-disalign-align-disalign. Infinite to-and-through-and-out-and-repeat. Square one'd. Back to base, but different, but the same as it always was, is. Blooming and burning. The kids are having fun, but they're up to no good. 

Things inside of your soul can be tapped into by others; you can't see them because they're yours. Outsiders see sides to you which have become invisible to self. Roots yearning for nourishment; eyes telling the whole story; minds with not enough to be kept busy with; lives with not enough in general. Blinded by/to/from our own flaws. Social creatures by nature, the self is in the other. It's not just merely reflection; it's an all-encompassing game of give-and-take, back-and-forth, to-and-fro, and at times tic-tac-toe Caught in our sufficiently self-serving monologue. Inside yourself, yet just as unaware of it as you were on day one. As your soul leaves your body it'll wonder just what was going on; what was it here to accomplish? Was there a set plan, guardrails to lead me to where I was always going, or am I who and where I am because I am? My body, but not necessarily my choice. My mind, but not necessarily my thoughts. Put through seemingly random hurdles to push us past ourselves. Under our own radars.

I'm convinced BoC have gained access to the means for planting memories into your head. They supply the soundtrack for lives lost and never lived. Loved ones long gone, and never to return again. Churned up and out of existence. Flattened by time. Broken down to dust. 

"I Saw Through Platonia" ends the album in a similar fashion to Dark Side of the Moon - the heartbeat. 

Meditative music; spheres to soothe the soul in; spaces to put the day to rest. Just as easily soul-upsetting, as is the way of Boards of Canada.