Leagues away from the playful yet somewhat sinister psychedelic noise-pop of her more well-known band,
Black Mother Super Rainbow, Maureen Boyle's solo material as
the Seven Fields of Aphelion is calm, untethered, and blissful. Falling somewhere between the "therapeutic pop" of
White Poppy and the dreamy, atmospheric folk of
Grouper and
Ekin Fil, her songs consist of expansive washes of atmospheric synths, a gossamer of textural vocals, and delicate keyboard melodies, which are sometimes the most direct elements of the pieces, but still unfurl at their own leisurely paces. There are certainly some recognizable traces of
Black Moth's woozy, trippy psychedelia, but
Seven Fields sounds infinitely more relaxed and meditative. Keep the Ocean Inside is only the project's second album, and it's a clear improvement over 2010 debut Periphery, sounding much more focused. The cover art looks like a shifting pyramid made of aquamarine mist, and the music evokes much the same imagery. It goes without saying that an album this lush and immersive is meant to be experienced as a whole, but if highlights must be chosen, there's the nine-minute seafoam epic "Triptych" and the closing number "High Water Mark (...To Wash Away...)," which somewhat resembles the intro to
Orbital's "Halcyon + On + On." Magnificent work, highly recommended. ~ Paul Simpson