This is Geir Jenssen's third Biosphere album in as many years for theUK's two decade strong Touch label. At first glance there appears to beseveral unrelated elements at play: the title is the name of a Chineseunmanned spacecraft, the track titles reference miscellaneous things,the digipack artwork is seemingly random photos (though typical forTouch) and inside it says that the first ten of the dozen tracks arebased on the orchestral works of late 20th Century French impressionistcomposer Claude Debussy. Playing those ten tracks doesn't clarify thecontradictions, but it does reveal a tightly focused continuum. HereJenssen's arctic ambience is quite minimal and possibly darker anddeeper than ever before. Low end currents and pink noise vapor trailscreate melodies and mysteries. Meanwhile, rhythmic bumps and loopedstrains of what I presume is Debussy orchestra are occasionally weavedin. The final two tracks are indeed different but also complementary tothe Debussy inspired suite. Altogether, 'Shenzou' is austere and simplyanother eerily beautiful ambient escape courtesy of Biosphere and Touch.
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