Apalusa - Wires And Knives
[Low Point]

When not layering his textural guitar sounds over Nottingham’s Souvaris’ post-rock template, Dan Layton composes euphonic ambient passages that, at times, evoke images of the elements and nature.

Recorded during a period of down-time between tours, “Wires and Knives” follows his powerful “Small Environs” debut earlier this year. Five compositions in all bearing the hallmarks of celestial processed guitar experimentation, Layton adds music boxes, distant voices and crackles of static and hiss into his expansive soundscapes.

“The Holy Goat” resembles the sound of a grand cathedral organ, it dramatically increases in volume throughout its duration, while the starlit music box twinkles casts images of some fantastical glacial palace from a C.S Lewis novel.

The murky “You’ll Find Me in the Undergrowth” finds Layton exploring deep into the dark waters of the ocean. The lingering processed guitar expands in density the deeper he goes. Until the 12th minute when a sudden chord shift takes us into a magical passage of spectral beauty, as if Layton has found the lost city of Atlantis.

In keeping with Low Point traditions, Apalusa creates a mesmerizing wall of sound, which is perfect for gazing into the stars with. It has been a great introductory year for this fledgling label. Releasing exclusive music from the likes of Chris Herbert and Machinefabriek and Apalusa triumphantly brings 2007 to a close. More of the same next year please!