Inventions - Maze of Woods

As statements of intent go, Maze of Woods begins with a pretty strong one: "I wanted to do something that I don't know how to do" goes the echoing vocal sample deployed as the opening salvo of “Escapers”. The rumbling reverberation arcs over a hail of compressed beats that have been hardened into metamorphic snaps, serving as an arresting contrast to the washes of synth that flow across the track. It's clear from the outset that Inventions are in experimental mode, but also intent on creating a personalised sonic landscape focusing on a more straight forward and accessible aesthetic compared with their previous output.

“Springworlds” sees Inventions stray into territory more in keeping with Explosions, deploying slow forming constructions of elongated strings and climactic waves of emotive synth rushes. The track is saturated with waves of guitar effects that duck you under an expansive body of shimmering reverb. It's a place that immediately pulls you in for a return visit with “Peregrine” which is the most ardently cinematic track on the album and pushes the running themes of sprawling electronics and distant shamanic vocal samples to near Sigur Rós levels.

But by the time you hit the sprawling “A Wind From All Directions” and “Wolfkids” - apparently inspired by a Denis Johnson novella - the album begins to close in. The distorted vocal samples sit high in the mix and roughly brace against the off-kilter clips and beats like a chopped and screwed M83. Both tracks bubble with atmospherics that fizz closely around the found-sounds which are stretched to the point at which their origins are not only unrecognisable, but nearly entirely snap with the tension.

The mountainous range of "Moanmusic" is a tough climb as the glacially paced, abrasive samples make the track sound like Fuck Buttons on prozac, but suddenly everything falls away to reveal a skeletal piano interlude which slowly morphs into wobbly, resonating patches of white noise. The results aren’t so much avant-garde, but sound slightly disjointed and stray dangerously close to affectation.

Album closer “Feeling the Sun Thru the Earth at Night” revisits the vocal heavy cycles that dominate the mid-point of the album, but here they’re cast in tribal African sonics, before shifting gears entirely to close off with an emotively charged round of pulsating atmospherics echoing those found at the beginning of the album.

On Maze of Woods, Inventions have genuinely tried to sonically challenge themselves and in the process manage to create moments of genuine beauty. The artistry is unquestionable, but ultimately the indulgence of the album’s creation seems to have fogged Invention’s original vision.