Erik Wollo - Different Spaces (2017)

Different Spaces from renowned Norwegian electronic musician Erik Wøllo is a diverse and sweeping 2-CD release. Spanning 2 hours and 45 minutes, his 21st full-length album is a monumental statement ranging from slowly-drifting kaleidoscopic passages, epic soaring guitar melancholy, upbeat ever-changing sequenced cycles, and charismatic compelling melodies. Possessing a sense of drama and storytelling, the 22 new compositions explore and expand upon his 35 years of musical experience. Using electric guitar as his primary melodic instrument, Wøllo creates sustained and seamless tapestries revealing wide-ranging and wide-angled compositions masterfully orchestrated across two disks. The music traverses the different spaces that occupy an artist’s creative thoughts across mesmerizing landscapes of distinctive panoramas, rhythmic realms, and engaging, engulfing atmospheres.

Erik says, “I wanted to do it differently this time: longer pieces, open and extended, spreading out the sonic elements and transitions in time. I aimed to combine everything into a continuous and balanced aural flow, together with my ethereal tones and timbres. Last year I worked exclusively on this album. I composed a lot of material; there were over 40 tracks to choose from and to really express the variety, a 2-CD release was clearly what I had in mind.“

Different Spaces is electronic music with an evocative and symbolic approach. Erik’s background in 70s progressive rock shines through. The sequencer aesthetic and other aspects of the era’s technology form the basic foundation on many of these tracks. Modern pulsing and immersive soundscapes provide measured momentum to steadily move through the morphing patterns and textures.

“If music or art does not send me to a certain spot or a setting, I am not very interested,” Erik comments. “It’s a sense of being somewhere. This is a very important part on this release: the awareness of a connection with place, subjectivity and feeling. Within this, I delve into my curiosity about what’s in my subconscious. In the subconscious there are all kinds of iconic sounds, visions and mythic fragments.”