Unsound
Description
The sonic world created in Unsound is a swirl of emotions. The melodies and textures captured in its 11 tracks bring the listener into a different dimension in which feelings like desolation and hope walk hand by hand.
Unsound is the result of a long and intense personal journey that started under the simple premise of pushing my own boundaries, blending classical-sounding passages with modern electronic elements. Unsound features several upright and grand pianos, modular synthesizers, guitars, bass, upright bass and even a 9-piece string ensemble recorded in a church.
“I wanted to create some music that would integrate technology as part of the compositional process. I was driven by this desire to make some beautiful compositions that could also be sonically exciting and surprising for the listener. There was a certain romantic feel in the production process; by trying to explore uncommon instruments, tools or techniques, I wanted my music to breathe, to feel like it’s moving.
The music contained in Unsound is full of ironies and contradictions. Sounds that took weeks to achieve are ornamenting spontaneous piano improvisations; thorough studio production alternates with simple field recordings I made while walking home with a worn-out cassette dictaphone in my hand”.
While not being necessarily a conceptual album, Unsound is heavily inspired by the composer’s everyday life. Some tracks are little snippets of his thoughts, reflections of personal events and some sound passages are reflections of life in a big metropolis. “Trying to find beauty in a hectic city like London is sometimes tough. Hope, worries, calm, bliss, elation, feeling like exploding inside... There are a lot of emotions put into this music but what each person makes out of them… that is very personal”.
Credits
All music written, arranged, recorded and mixed by Iván Muela.
Recorded in London between October '14 and April '15.
Assistant recording engineers: Daniel Lopez, Maciej Rompski.
Mastered by Yiannis Christodoulatos at Sweetspot Studios in Athens.
Artwork by Marcel Lisboa - https://www.behance.net/marcellisboa
Performed by:
Nathan Morson - double bass
Dermot Crehan - viola on 'Unlimned'
Iván Muela - piano, modular synthesisers, guitars, bass, drums, samples
Released on 9th January 2016 on Fluttery Records
Reviews
“By juxtaposing structured composition and liberal experimentation, Muela holds the listener at rapt attention as he presents a veritable menagerie of tangential ideas, sounds, and motifs interlaced with elegant and effusive passages that deliver direct emotional impact.” – Stationary Travels
“While Muela’s interests vary, the mood palette he creates spans a comfortable space along a whole spectrum of emotionality and doesn’t become overwhelming” – Independent Clauses
“Fans of Johann Johannson will find much to enjoy here” – EvilSponge
“(…) It often resonates deeply like Max Richter‘s work. Like its cover art the album is classical but with wash of distracting beauty over it”. – Unrecorded
“Song of the Day” (Sonder) – Take the Songs and Run
“(…) il classicismo e la modernità trovano accordo e corrispondenza in un perfetto amalgama che varia notevolmente nell’arco dei 44 minuti, ma che ha come comun denominatore la delicatezza e la raffinatezza”. Rosa Selvaggia (IT)
“(…) Nell’eterogeneità di “Unsound” si percepisce così la lucidità dell’approccio “modern classical” dell’artista spagnolo, che a prescindere dai mezzi impiegato trova denominatori comuni nell’ampiezza di respiro armonico e negli spiccati caratteri emozionali delle sue composizioni”. – Music Won’t Save You (IT)
“Beau, étrange et non conventionnel à la fois” – Prog-résiste (Belgian printed magazine)