RL/VL “Chagrin” – Cyclic Defrost
Excerpt: “RL/VL is 18-year-old, Belfast-based Jack Hamill. His debut album on Hidden Shoal is brilliant. There are obvious stylistic influences – late ’70s Eno at the pinnacle of those – but Chagrin has enough to stand on its own as one of the best examples of ambience that I have heard for a long time. The first thing that stands out is the amount of recording residue that is ingrained in the music… the whole point of this music is the quiet meshing of vague, indiscreet sounds. Another feature are those ‘musical’ sounds. They are some of the most acrid and corroded I have ever heard, without Hamill ever resorting to distortion or bitcrushing… The best description I can think of for this music is that it sounds like the aural equivalent of a long disused wall. Its layers of paint and decades of history are now exposed by weather, its usefulness has long since departed, yet it stands as an almost silent testament to vast amounts of information that require forensic observation to uncover. Chagrin is a peaceful, still, beautiful testament to post-industrial decay.”
