Matthew Bailey, recording as Wanderfalke, has released The Way In, a seven-track, forty-minute album. All seven cuts are instrumental with Bailey playing guitar, synths and drums.
Writing and recording took place over five years with Bailey working in western North Carolina. His care and feeding of the material, and recording process, shows in a beautiful result. If you like synth-y, ambient music with a tasty dash of guitar, you’ll like The Way In. “Contorta” starts us off with a strummed acoustic guitar progression underlying keyboards played by contorted hands. Bailey’s composition and production skill is on display straight away. He takes simple themes and keeps our interest with his variations in tone and motif. And it sounds terrific; every separate instrument is in the just right place in the mix. The drums and drumming sound good, too! If forced to choose, I’d pick “Parapraxis,” the second track, as my favorite. It starts off with throbbing synths (think “Chariots of Fire”) and builds throughout. The song is a one-chord special, but it doesn’t get boring, as Bailey varies the textures and incorporates bits of themes. The song culminates in a just-right distorted guitar lead--it’s melodic and tasteful. I’ve picked “Parapraxis,” but each of the remaining five tracks is strong in its own right. “Immaterial” includes very cool sounds and panning effects. “Interval”’s theme repeats with varying tones and a changing drum pattern, giving us a few variations all in one go. The guitars on “Perpetually Broken/Undivided Light” are a nice complement to the keyboards, and a nice change in instrumentation focus. Bailey says he made The Way In “because it’s fun, and I love it.” That shines through. It’s a terrific album start to finish. Give it a listen!
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