Undermathic - Return to Childhood

Title: Return to Childhood
Artist: Undermathic
Genre:  Electronic
Release Date: 20th October 2009
Label: Tympanik Audio



Album Review

Maciej Paszkiewicz’s history of creating electronic sounds started back in 1999. Yet it wasn’t before the year 2007 that the public would see his compositions appear on a CD. HEAD was the alias of choice and under that moniker he released two full-length albums in 2007 and 2008. In 2009, his new project UNDERMATHIC emerged on the horizon and close to the end of the year presented its first album ‘Return to Childhood’.

Colourful piano textures, resembling morning dew sparkling with early rays of sunlight place a false image about the mood of ‘Independence’ into the head. Soon it’s drifting almost unnoticeably into the arms of comforting melancholy on a backdrop of partly reversed down-tempo electronics. ‘Keep Out No Entry’ represents a musical lock, blocking the door to the innermost feelings of a person in an effort to protect oneself from getting hurt too bad as happened in the past. Hearing the more powerful drum parts that appear in regular intervals has me thinking of someone knocking at that locked door, while the atmospherics reflect that person’s desperation about not being granted access no matter how hard he tries. ‘Try Again’ with its acoustic guitar sampling and weeping choirs brings resignation, the feeling of having nothing it’s worth to fight for anymore, which sharply contradicts the track title that implies there’s still some kind of hope.

’Lighthouse’ really stands out in the way that it’s appearing more like a rough block of metal someone’s treating with a heavy hammer inside an industrial factory. Its structures are cold and distanced. Only for a short spell a shimmer of melody comes through, not to bring bright daylight but autumnal grey. ‘Entropy’ begins as an ambient collage of urban dreariness, eventually building up to a rhythmically appealing tune with organic ingredients. However, my undisputed favourite on ‘Return to Childhood’ is ‘Everything Too Late’. It’s the sonic manifestation of someone walking through a late autumn afternoon with the leaves cracking under their shoes and an owl sending greetings to the slowly emerging night. A really bad day is behind that person, a day the last chance to ever be completely happy in life has passed away with the knowledge there won’t be any going back.

This album’s strength lies in its ability to generate moods that are so deep and complex in their build, they map all the feelings occurring in certain situations or chapters in life. That makes UNDERMATHIC a project hardly comparable to anything else and ‘Return to Childhood’ a treasure of well-conceived electronica. Hopefully, the next one won’t be too long in coming.


Tracklist

01. Independence - 4:58
02. Keep Out No Entry - 4:53
03. Try Again - 4:20
04. Understanding - 5:15
05. ttaggg - 5:13
06. Submissive Woman - 5:39
07. Lighthouse - 5:37
08. Entropy - 7:14
09. Everything Too Late - 4:46
10. People Pass Each Other - 4:13
11. Return to Childhood - 6:26


Line-Up

Maciej Paszkiewicz – All Music & Production


Website

http://www.undermathic.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/undermathic


Cover Picture




Rating

Music: 9
Sound: 9
Extras: -
Total: 9 / 10


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