Described as ‘one of Australia’s best kept secrets’, Ross Manning’s Room 40 debut is a veritable sonic tapestry. ‘Led Vert’ explores low, resonant tones which immerse the senses and the mind through the depth and breadth of their frequencies. The expansive hum is overlaid with niggling details from the higher-ranges, which shift and warp to disorientating, time-bending effect. The scraping skrawking treble of ‘Sinew and Cats’ needles the listener and builds to a waspish multi-tonal swarming. It makes for quite uncomfortable listening. In comparison, the disjointed clatter of ‘%’ comes as a relief.
Manning’s ability to conjure a broad array of atmospheres is ably demonstrated across the album’s five tracks, and it’s by no means all abrasive or difficult. ‘Expand Scatter’ forges a dream-like kaleidoscope through rippling chimes, while the final track, the nine-nine-minute ‘Silhouettes’ is a masterfully-realised piece that’s dark and ominous. As such, it represents the album as a whole, if not sonically, then in terms of its texture and its quality, which is of a rare standard and equate to a work to get lost in.
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Ross Manning – Interlacing Online
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