stray theories - those who remain

Stray Theories

Those Who Remain
Already Dead Tapes; 2013

4.0 out of 5

By Jerrica Tisdale

When Stray Theories collaborates with other composers, or when he mixes music for films, he ensures that he uses minimal ambience. Through fusing melodic ambience and producing deep textured soundscapes, Stray Theories captures the sound of experiences. His strong vision and abilities all come together in his latest release, Those Who Remain. This album recreates fear, excitement, discovery and joy with only a few instruments. Fans of bands like Auburn Lull, Fennesz and an Mountains will appreciate this music.

Generally, Stray Theories manages to make limited instruments feel new and exciting with every track introduction. However, occasionally the beats become too repetitive. That’s one of the weaknesses of Those Who Remain. Nevertheless, this album really animates emotions. 

On Those Who Remain, the best track for manifesting feelings is “Exposure.” With just soundscapes, this track immediately sets up the cautious tone of exploring the unknown. Then “Exposure” builds by adding the feeling of various emotions, like fear, anxiety and wonder, to this exploration with other instruments. The song “When You Return” also captures a vast array of emotions. It starts ghostly, almost like sadness, and then enters a state of happiness, and back to sadness. This song represents what many of the songs on Those Who Remain do, a mixture of dark and light tones.

Stray Theories mainly improvised his pieces for this album. Therefore, many of the meaning and feelings brought on by them may simply be by chance. However, whether they are accidental or intentional, these tracks tell a complete story by producing sounds that revive emotions. These emotions can only be created through certain experiences and at certain places. Those Who Remain really takes a journey of musical exploration, which makes it a great album to let your thoughts and imagination explore. 

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