Ultre - All the Darkness Has Gone to Details
[Audiobulb]

Central to many of the tracks on 'All the Darkness Has Gone to Details' is Ultre's home-made instrument, one he describes as being "like a huge metal bow and arrow that's painful to play".

It sounds hurt, the harsh shriek of the strings wailing through Being Invincible. It's not uncomfortable to hear, it resembles the darker side of a violin sound, a violin that was not carved or cared for and never played in an orchestra.

As 'All the Darkness Has Gone to Details' progresses it morphs and twists into something more electronic and less organic than it began as. It opens with harsh strings and dusty piano in Pictures of Piano Notes and progresses seamlessly to the electronic breakout of breaks and beats in quiet/loud ensemble Bricolage. This progression separates the tracks, but also cements the album as a solid entity

The piano pieces are what I find most striking about Ultre, the small melodies, repeated and moulded around the laptop sounds and programmed beats, they soften the sharp beats and clicks, without either being drowned out or dominating.

'All the Darkness Has Gone to Details' has an accomplished sound, not unlike a lot of other things, but retaining a definite identity and well-developed tracks. McNicholas displays a sympathetic ear to the acoustic side of things alongside bold use of meaty programming.

Much is to be expected from Finn McNicholas in the near future, with visuals for Warp and sets with Chris Clark and Freeform already under his belt, now complimented by this fearsome debut.

Track Listing:

01. Pictures Of Piano Notes
02. Being Invincible
03. Hearings
04. Nobodies Favourite
05. Useless Nervous Minutes
06. Nobodies Beaks
07. In The Nerves
08. Bricolage
09. Scissors And Intervals
10. Phrotos
11. Orcheste Neutron
12. Massive Things In Tiny Hands