Tacit Noise - "About to Be..." Album Review

Though currently residing in Springfield, Illinois, Portland artist T. Mayer (recording under the moniker Tacit Noise), is a Northwest purist at heart and the proof is in his music. "Created...in a cabin without power or water...[recorded] in the open oak forest exposed to the elements...", it's hard to imagine a more PNW inspired album than his debut About to Be...

There's a distinct vulnerability in exposing such carefully crafted songs to the whims of the ambient wild, but Tacit Noise has found a way to, if not control, at least cohabit that untamed space. The result is a unique and mesmerizing sound. Somewhere between "Lost to Drought" and "Mountain as a Powersource", Tacit Noise manages to channel the honest rawness of nature through lo-fi anthems in the vein of Liam the Younger and Kurt Vile. By the time you've reached track 8, "Fleeting", you find you've come to understand and appreciate the purposeful meandering of the layers and loops, the beautifully weaving and soaring melodic intricacies that suggest subtle influences of  prog-rock-soul-jazz shredders White Denim. The final result, by "Warm to the Touch" though, is an intoxicating sound all his own. So put on a good pair of headphones, and listen hard for those low whispers of the untamed intertwined in this stunning debut. 

Lacey Chastain, 2015