Murfreesboro ambient artist NGC 4414 has been astoundingly prolific over the past year. The outfits Bandcamp is regularly added to with various EP’s, singles and collaborations. The rule of quality not quantity does not seem to apply here as each release is progressively more interesting.
The latest album to go up is a pre-order for the full-length The World is a Fine Place, with two tracks available to hear now. The first, “Microwave”, sounds exactly like what it might feel like to be subjected to the rays of an actual microwave; dizzying and more than a bit disorienting.
The second of the preview tracks, “Orange in the Evening,” is decidedly more meditative and calm in comparison. More importantly tho, it sets the stage for a record that may stretch NGC 4414 further than they’ve gone before. The rolling microbeat that fuels the entire composition phases back and forth between speakers, making itself a very present element, shadowing the humming ambient sounds underneath. If we were to dare speak metaphorically about the offering, it seems that the regular NGC 4414 is being tucked into the background, with something new emerging.
The album is set for release on October 4th, so we’ll just have to wait until then to see how representative these pieces are of the whole but consider us officially intrigued in the meantime.