Secret Pyramid - Two Shadows Collide (2017)

Amir Abbey follows up Secret Pyramid's last album, Movements of Night, with Two Shadows Collide, an ever deeper exploration of the sounds between consciousness and transcendence. Carefully built and fluidly performed, the record deepens Abbey's relationship with modern composition and abstract songcraft. Songs have an exploratory immensity fueled by cosmic awe, basking in a dreamlike presence. Abbey's works move slow, building substantive monolithic odes of awe which shift and morph into fully fleshed paeans of possibility.

"Possession" yields inspiration from Ligeti's string works combined with field recordings, while the Badalamenti-esque "In Wind" provides a cinematic aural homage to the Pacific Northwest. You can hear the singular Ondes Martenot float and glide through several tracks, including the hazy and beautiful title track. Each song's main inspiration comes from the notion behind the album title, the intersection and attraction of forces and worlds, clashing of sounds, and the dualities within our lives. That such a meditative release is built upon conflict is ironic, but therein lies the perfect way to listen.