The musical group known as Our New Golden consists of Zack Ghika and James Gilbert, and they collaborated with a number of talented friends, notably Brendan Sullivan, on their latest project. Titled Assisium, the album was largely recorded during an intense several-month period of jam sessions in 2019, resulting in a vast collection of around 100 songs. From this pool of material, the final version of the album was carefully crafted and completed in September of 2022, comprising eighteen tracks.
“Our New Golden” opens the album and is one of the more ambitious and lengthy songs. There’s a bunch of synths, electronic drums and other elements. I was picking up on some other electronic artists like Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada. There’s a similar sort of dissonance to the songs. This song feels alien with ephemeral pads that float and dissipate other elements. It’s definitely headphone music. There’s more of a hip-hop feel to “Son of a Watchmaker” which has a lot of airy elements. It’s warm and oddly inviting with a beat coming in and out of the mix. I was impressed by the sound design which is what this song is all about. The cinematic “Sunburst” has a darker and melancholy feel. This felt like a song that could be in a movie. There’s also this slight spaghetti western quality I was picking up. The song comes apart in different ways and I loved this experimental aspect where the band was thinking outside of the box. “Dune” actually sounds more like a band playing. It’s cool and different and works. I would say this song was relaxing and calming in a meditative type of way. The title track “Assisium” is very cerebral and again very zen. It feels like a mantra and this band of white noise passes over you with some guitar creating the variation. They are really just getting started but I thought there were a number of other high points on the album. “Wedding Song” has a wicked groove somewhere between Bjork and Oneohtrix Point Never. Another high point was the closer “The Return”. I loved the percussion on this song. This album did have a mixtape-like feel. Some of the tracks felt like they were working with a different palette of tones and colors. Overall, I thought there were some exceptional tracks on this release. And make sure to listen with headphones and eyes closed for full effect.
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