Szun Waves' third album, like their first two, originated from improvised studio sessions. While the trio's 2016 debut At Sacred Walls was edited and mixed by member
Luke Abbott, and its 2018 follow-up contained no edits or overdubs,
Earth Patterns had a more complex, involved creation process. The musicians (producer
Abbott, saxophonist
Jack Wyllie, drummer
Laurence Pike) recorded together for three days near the end of their 2019 European tour, combining ideas from their live shows with spontaneously generated ones. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, however, the musicians were stuck in their respective homes (
Pike in Australia, the other two in the U.K.), and they decided to further develop the material with the help of additional producers/engineers
James Holden and
David Pye. The extra mixing input is readily apparent, as this is easily the group's most detailed recording yet, and the pieces are presented with such a natural flow that the entire album appears as if it were composed as a single, continuous suite. The pieces tend to simmer until they bloom, radiating with energy rather than heading straight for a hard, forceful climax. "New Universe" builds atop a lumbering beat, gradually gaining dazzling synths and careening saxophone. "Garden" buries its drums under cascading synths, which eventually fling themselves upward around the starry, high-pitched saxophone lines. The nine-minute "Be a Pattern for the World" ascends gracefully, and by the midway point, it's soaring through the cosmos. "Atomkerne" similarly takes a few minutes of drifting before it takes off, letting the drums drop out during much of the second half as the synths go into overdrive.
Earth Patterns rewards patience with some positively searing moments. ~ Paul Simpson