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Album Review: 'In Time' by Arrio
Jakarta-based producer-musician Adhe Arrio’s debut release In Time is a deeply engaging electronic record heavy on patient mood-makers.
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'In Time' by Arrio (Double Deer Records/File)
J
akarta-based producer-musician Adhe Arrio’s debut release In Time is a deeply engaging electronic record heavy on patient mood-makers. This is one of those rare local electronic offerings in which the tracks establish themselves through layered moments instead of relying on instant beat-filled rambunctiousness.
Sonic moments reveal themselves organically, building atmosphere around the songs, never the other way around. Serving up doses of trip-hop with a strong modern house touch and sultry R& B, the record’s strength comes from its ambient-heavy production; electronic percussion pulses instead of bashes, and synthesizers are often content with sitting back to provide minimalist layers of static sound. Even when multiple instruments enter the fray, they intersect through and with each other.
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Usually found working busily on the production side of things in the studio (including on Neonomora’s eclectic Seeds from last year), Adhe Arrio manages to present his own voice in a focused way. The whole record is so singular in its temperament that it almost feels like sections of one whole song. It isn’t a particularly eclectic batch of tracks in a global context but, locally, In Time feels persuasively experimental in its subtleness.
Beginning with the measured bleeps of “Fin”, the album settles immediately into what becomes a continuous structure of processed beats above reverbdrenched instrumentation. The sampled spoken word of “Watts” counts as one of the album’s most blissedout moments, evoking a floating dreaminess among its simple grand piano and synth lines.
It takes measures to contain its nuances without exploding into the clichés of its genre. In its own simpler way, the record harks back to electronic groundbreakers such as Autechre in its focus on engaging through a cerebral mood and less on primal energy.
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Similarly, the classic-house touch of “Eternal Now” starts with a rave-like pulse that never makes an easy jump to something expected, eschewing four-on-thefloor bombast for awkward, almost breakbeat rhythms. One can’t help but wonder — had Arrio been surrounded by a braver electronic scene, his penchant for The Orb and Azari & III-like progressive beats may be even more pronounced.
The record presents two collaborative efforts. These songs are also the album’s most vocal-driven tracks. “Drown Me” features singer Rayssa, while “Pillow talk” features Kallula. The former is a silky modern R & B-esque song in the vein of How To Dress Well, and is more successful in its playful sultriness than the latter. The album’s only misstep is feeling out of line with the rest of the record’s nuanced subtleness.
In Time closes with a wonderful trio of tempered instrumentals. The film-score mournfulness of “Delusion” is almost Eno-like in its static melancholy. Meanwhile “CNTROL” is almost industrial in its atmosphere building and discordant melodic choices. “Balance” is the closest the record comes to a full-on banger, but it manages to keep its nuanced flourish by playing pushand-pull with its percussion work.
In Time doesn’t break any new ground but in the context of a local release in its genre, the record’s willingness to put forth nuances instead of crowd-pleasing immediacy is applaudable. That it manages to create a good dose of memorable tracks which creep up slowly is a fine bonus.
