Similes

So it’s a little strange hearing Eluvium sing at first. Not because Matthew Cooper can’t carry a tune; it's because he’s spent so many years sculpting icy instrumental pieces. While that ambient Eno angle is still in place on Similes, Cooper’s hushed melodies unfold like hazy storm clouds that never quite crack open. Moody but never menacing, these are songs you fall asleep to, from the spiraling piano progressions of “In Culmination” to the soothing drone tones of “Bending Dream” and “Nightmare 5.” And then there’s “Cease to Know,” an 11-minute closer that’s frozen in time and a fitting foil to the forest-clearing slowcore of “Leaves Eclipse the Light.” Listen long enough, and you might just float away along with its flickering chords.