Fulfilling the wildest creatures of imagination sound can animate.
I can count on one hand the number of classical concept albums I’ve heard. Perhaps that is a reflection of my own biases, but besides Unremembered by Sarah Kirland Snider (I recommend), it seems a genre exclusive to film scoring. As much as I appreciate soundtracks, they are designed to go hand-in-hand with a visual medium, whether it be TV, movies, or video games. It’s a missed opportunity, then, that composers haven’t capitalized on what Koan Sound has achieved with Led By Ancient Light. Yes, Koan Sound released an audiobook, as well as a documentary, to supplement this album. But the focal point is the music itself. That’s unusual. Read the book and watch the documentary if you wish, but they are not prerequisites. Personally, I don’t need words or images to let my imagination run untamed. The Bristol-based duo’s greatest triumph is producing an experience that lets the listener do the heavy lifting, while an invisible hand guides them through to preclude absent wandering.
From the title, to the cover, to the tracklist, it’s clear that Koan Sound has opted for a tacky sci-fi storyline. Nothing too ambitious. Like it or not, music (barring lyrics) is simply not cut-out for multifaceted plotlines and character arcs. No matter how passionately you scrutinize the instruments, any meaning derived is really your own speculation. What music does provide is a framework. The base level on which you can build whatever your heart desires. Led By Ancient Light is merely explicit in its theming. Theming which begins in an alien, cavernous chamber with “Embers From Chaos." Here, cellos warp into frightening pillars as you explore the atmospheric groundwork of your new home. Sprinkles of electronic embellishments shimmer from above. What is this world? It’s not up to me to tell you.
From the second track onwards, it becomes clear that EDM is a co-directing genre for Led By Ancient Light. The organic, classical elements often capitulate to neurofunk, dubstep, or empty ambient passages. And when I say classical, I say it in the loosest regard possible. The literal definition of classical music is ‘based in tradition’. But who are we to gate-keep more pragmatic approaches? This is a necessary evolution. I would prefer not to use such reductive terms, anyways. It’s not as if the genres are Jenga-stacked on top of eachother; they’ve been properly stirred. “Voices of Dissent” is a track that captures this equilibrium: The methodic, ceaseless DnB drums are offset by its spiraling string accompaniment. It's comparable to the cyborg trope of dystopian futures that Led By Ancient Light embraces: half-human, half-machine. Other times, the roles are reversed: In “Fragments," the underlying cello melody is poised against broken, blemished scraps of sound. Material or digital, no sole instrument has absolute authority.
Above all, Led By Ancient Light possesses a ripe and full-bodied sound. While I can admire a lo-fi aesthetic on indie, or metal releases, EDM is obliged to have superior production. KOAN Sound excels at this. But Led By Ancient Light is not reserved for audiophiles, either. Even $20 earbuds will grant an engaging listen. On 7 minute long odysseys such as “Temple of Fervor," the core melodies are front and center. Close-listening is rewarded, however, as the layering unmasks clandestine harmonizations. As if they were never meant to be found. Meanwhile, “Exigence” is a sharp dose of narcomania. Enough to fill the battery for the slow-burn final leg. Welcome to KOAN Sound’s playground, where you are a wide-eyed child, heedless of the world surrounding you. Replicating youthful glee is not an easy task, I must say, but Led By Ancient Light gets awfully close.
If I were to pass on criticism, I would have two things to say. Firstly, that the motifs can feel superficial at times. I get it, wonder and adventure: it’s pretty. But outer space has endless depth. If this were truly a cosmic pilgrimage, there needs to be peril, or a touch more dynamism. I want sky-high mountain peaks and ocean-deep gorges, not a whitewashed plain of lifeless glamor. That may be an exaggeration, but the point is made. Secondly, I do believe the interplay between electronic and classical instrumentation is the defining feature of Led By Ancient Light. It could go further. More premeditated and disruptive tracks like “Liquid Levity;" less casual DnB like “Interrogate." Without forsaking balance, of course. If these two gripes were rectified, Led By Ancient Light would be faultless. Relative to its counterparts, it is already.
A good way to think about Led By Ancient Light is as a stroll through an outlandish museum, where each exhibit contains a separate ancient artifact to gawk at. In some rooms, the lights flicker with invisible currents of energy. In others, the glare is so blinding that the only indication of direction is the faint roar of an unseen beast. KOAN Sound’s mythos is open-ended and nameless. Better to keep it that way. I have my own tales to tell; yours will likely diverge. Orchestrating a soundtrack that plays for nothing but itself.
Links: Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Bandcamp
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