Artist: Anthony Linell

Title: Sculpting Energy

Label: Northern Electronics

Release date: 10th December 2018

After A Sense of Order LP and Alienation from Self EP, Anthony Linell signs in 2018 another outstanding release on Northern Electronics: a four-track EP titled Sculpting Energy, out on the 10th December on the label that he co-owns with fellow Swedish Varg.

We started the year stuck in meditative soundscapes, with A Sense of Order leaving us immersed in fog, isolated amidst nature and charmed by the most fascinating sonic description of coldness.

Later in April came Alienation from Self, that almost warning us with that title, brought us in a claustrophobic cage of sound where losing our mind. Here we were welcomed by three inclement tracks, austere sonorities that made us want to disappear forever.

The whole journey was as intense as needed though: from here we rose again with a new energy, the one coming with this latest EP, perhaps a new strong path for Linell’s relentless exploration.

We are still wandering through cold landscapes, admiring the beauty of a field covered with frost, but the energy we feel is very much alive and makes our heads lift up.

The EP starts with Thermae, the first result of this quest for new energies. There are still drone patterns and those bouncing refrains for which we endlessly come back to Linell’s sound, but here ice transforms into steam, as the title of this first track might suggest.

Walking strong on this path, we discover Sculpting Energy: we can’t say it’s euphoria, but this force is powerful and hypnotic, a twisting melody that stays within.

Scattered across is unsettling techno repetition: synth sounds thrown around like pieces of ice, the sight and thought of which make you shiver and realize deeply that yes, this is Anthony’s very own sound.

The EP ends with Vision of the Imminence: a majestic piece, a grand finale, confirming that unmistakable style of him, be it for his productions or his DJ sets and live performances. If there’s such a thing as cold energy, this is what is all about: a sound so gloomy, so deeply explored and carved out that you don’t want anything more – when the music is over, you are done. Full of sound.

(pic by Anrick Bregman)