Inventions is comprised of Mark Smith, guitarist for post-rock giant Explosions In The Sky, and Eluvium’s Mathew Cooper. Being both labelmates as well as tourmates makes their union as expected as the sound they produce together on Maze of Woods.
Smith’s reverberating guitar style fits comfortably into Cooper’s line of work, which consists of such range, it can best be described as ambient white-noise. Inventions aims to find a best of both worlds between the artists, but Maze of Woods tends to lean toward Cooper’s style, leaving Smith’s guitar as an afterthought, which may be the greatest weakness to the album. The opener “Escapers” echoes the line, “I wanted to do something that I don’t know how to do,” which literally points out that Inventions is experimenting with the sound they can make. This could be the reason why Smith feels so underplayed, as the guitar style he developed with Explosions In The Sky is very formulaic, and sticks to certain parameters to invoke emotional tension through his instrument, which was one of the main appeals behind EITS. But Smith’s role in Inventions works for what the project aims to do, as his guitar will elegantly chime in to focus in many of the quieter moments, serenely carrying each song to its next destination.
Both Cooper and Smith know their sounds, and little adaption is needed for them to work well together, which may be comforting to Cooper, as he continues to experiment with his style as he always has. Anything is fair game for Cooper’s atmospheric creations. Haunting piano lines, eerie moaning, the sound of water climbing the shore, all sorts of elements go into creating each piece. The repetitiveness and resonating of Cooper’s contributions create a static atmosphere, as if the music is floating right by your ears. It’s very soothing, almost too much, to the point where prolonged listening may be as effective as sleep medication.
Inventions has potential to make a lot of interesting music, and Maze of Woods almost accomplishes that. There’s a lot to be desired still from Smith; a more prominent role from him would create a nice balance to offset the stagnant waves Cooper constructs. The added component of Smith’s emotional playing and Cooper’s pleasant background building leaves room for more emotional attachment to be made, and maybe a formula of their own will take shape.
Rating: B-
