Pausal

Forms represents Pausal's sophomore production for Barge Recordings and sees the British duo merging their finely detailed sound design and ambience with a newly heightened sense of space and structure. Simon Bainton and Alex Smalley have clearly developed their compositional abilities since their earlier output; the ten pieces here are presented as four long tracks and feel natural in their melding of experimentation and harmonic progression. The rich, sprawling waves of aural grandeur and euphoria are distilled to create a musical narrative that shifts dramatically in mood, palette, and tone over the course of the album's 40 minute duration. Performed predominantly on guitar and laptop/sampler, their sonic pallet has expanded to incorporate a wider range of sound sources including dusty second hand vinyl finds (everything from 60's girl groups & 70's French 'Chanson' pop through to Mahler and Vivaldi) and for the first time - their vocals. The album was born mostly out of live performances (across the UK and in Europe), the rehearsals for which took place in a secluded barn deep in rural Wales, the landscape itself providing much inspiration for the music.