Indian Wells ‘New Ruins’ | A burst of beauty
Although the days are getting shorter and darker, Indian Wells has treated us with a little bit of brightness with his new EP ‘New Ruins’, released 22 October 2020. This is his first release on Mesh – a label that focuses on the exploration of the intersection between art, music and science, founded by Max Cooper. This release has been celebrated by Cooper, who was excited to welcome Indian Wells into the label, and reviewed the EP as having “beautiful rich synthesis, fuzz, harmony and playfulness throughout.”
I have been a huge fan of Indian Wells since first listening to his artfully composed 2017 album ‘Where the World Ends’, released on LA label Friends of Friends, before exploring his back catalogue, which includes gems such as his 2015 album ‘Pause’, a Bad Panda Records production. I am thrilled, therefore, to be reviewing his most recent EP, which boasts of his signature captivating melodies and an emotive atmosphere.
Indian Wells invites the listener to explore the new ruins that he has created, hinting at a destroyed society, one that has been left behind.
The opening track, ‘Black Trees’, begins with what Cooper described as “fuzz” – a recognisable sound to those previously familiar with Indian Wells’ music. Already he has created a powerful ambience. This haze of noise is soon penetrated by the crescendo of a synth melody that is quickly accompanied by an energetic percussion that keeps the song moving forward. The haze is maintained softly throughout the entire track, keeping us held in the ethereal atmosphere. Although the track is repetitive in nature, it a successful opener to the EP as it establishes the sublime yet inquisitive mood and hints at what is yet to come.
The titular track, ‘New Ruins’, eases us in with a clattering of soft percussion and muted wails of synths scarcely heard in the background. It does not stay calm for long, however, as the song intensifies due a rapidly repeated refrain that adds to the tension before the powerful beat is finally released. From then on, ‘New Ruins’ develops into a strong industrial track that revels in its distortion and notably lacks any of the gentler qualities of ‘Black Trees.’ The rapidly repeated synths produce a sense of urgency – this is not a relaxing listen but rather one that makes you want to move, and never stop moving. The mood is stark as the listener is chased through these new ruins, lost in a fantasy that Indian Wells has dragged you down into.
The soft ambience of ‘Night Arp Blues’ serves as a contrast to it’s industrial predecessor. The tempo has been brought down radically as the listener floats along to the rubato of the gentle melody. This track is a delicate reprieve, cushioned between the sharper sounds of ‘New Ruins’ and ‘Onlife.’ We are greeted once more by the fuzz, as Indian Wells builds around us a dreamy, spacey universe, full of beautiful synthesis and formless sounds.
We are picked up once again by the excitable nature of the following track, ‘Onlife.’ The first 1 minute 30 seconds is spent building up a soundscape that jerks and convulses, with the focus on a low, yet urgent refrain. Once the percussion is introduced, however, the track settles into a steady rhythm that compliments the jumpy essence of the melody. Around 3 minutes in, the steady pulse is punctuated with sustained airy notes that glide over the top, reminding us that we are still ensnared in Indian Wells’s world.
The final track, ‘The Now Eternal’, ends the EP with a relentless energy. Following on from ‘Onlife’, it maintains the twitchiness, though at an increased tempo. Beginning with a flurry of notes before giving way to the lively percussion, the jittery breakbeat of the track keeps the listener enraptured. Indian Wells never once loses the otherworldly ambience that he has carefully curated, however, as we are treated once again to the ethereal sustained sounds that contribute to a rich and complex soundscape. In this song, we can truly hear the playfulness that Max Cooper refers to.
It is safe to say that I have not been disappointed by ‘New Ruins’ – once again, Indian Wells has produced a selection of impeccably produced tracks, full of rich texture, sounds and atmosphere. He playfully juxtaposes ambient qualities with those of breakbeat and industrial.
‘New Ruins’ manages to be simultaneously melancholic and exuberant, hypnotising the listener with a complex variety of sounds and singing synths. Each track is different enough from the others that it has its own uniqueness, yet the EP still flows flawlessly from one to the other, no matter what order you chose to listen to it in. He has indeed taken this opportunity to show off his ability to create whole worlds using sound alone.
There is definitely a theme running throughout this EP, one that we have also seen in Lol Hammond’s and Duncan Forbes’ recent release ‘Who Will Stop the Robots’ [link to previous review], one of ecological disaster. For example, the title ‘Black Trees’ conjures up the image of a world full of nature that is blackened by pollution and ravaged by our way of life.
One cannot help but think that these new ruins we have just spent time blithely exploring are in fact the ruins of our own society – reminding us of the world that we are actively destroying if we do not slow down.