Not Waving & Romance - Wings Of Desire

Album

27 Nov

Not Waving and Romance have become two of the most intimate musical collaborations as their music resonates through the ears and into the soul. The pair's discography has a palpable sense of the divine runs throughout. However, it would be an oversimplification to base this solely on the cover art the duo has opted for. Instead, they channel their creativity into ambient music intertwined with a Renaissance-adjacent style. Following up on the stunning Infinite Light, released by the duo early in 2024, and Eyes Of Fate from 2021, Wings of Desire has picked up where they left off. Wings of Desire delves deeper as the duo explores consciousness through the guise of religion. The interception between the divine and the mechanical isn't new within electronic music, but Not Waving and Romance finds a particularly intriguing niche to capitalise on.

Going back to 2021, the duo's tongue-in-cheek descriptor of Eyes of Fate proposes the music is "mythological Old Testament ambient", which has become true with every subsequent release. Wings of Desire combines elements of Baroque and Renaissance paintings that make it feel like the sound of the mystical is finally getting nailed down with a twist. The track 'From the Wary Earth to the Sapphire Walls' demonstrates a balance between the classical and contemporary. Repetitive loops, almost like a record is skipping, transition into a symphonic vocal track that elevates the music, combining the poignant and from a higher power interlaced with mimicry of faulty technology.

Not Waving and Romance attempt to achieve an otherworldly communion with the Lord throughout their collaborations, or at least that's what it sounds like. Take the huge reverbs and settle localisation in the background of 'Shepard's Dream', which feels hauntingly like the music bounces slowly around a colossal cathedral. Other examples include 'Purged Of All Remembrance', which utilises organs that sizzle and shimmer with echo, making it larger than life.

When describing Wings of Desire, all the cliche words, such as ethereal transcendence or spiritual, come to mind, but the album is more complicated than that. While those descriptors fit, they don't really sum up the album's theme. They missed the humanity stitched into every Solomon drone and cranked effect. Not Waving and Romance have tried to capture the indescribable elements behind those words. The album more closely depicts intangible concepts like memory and consciousness through the lens of ethereal and transcendent sounds.

Wings of Desire keeps most of its runtime devoid of signifiers, allowing each listener to tell a slightly different story, with each experience being intentionally different. The music is vague and meaningless, like a blank canvas waiting for paint. On one rare occasion, signifiers play a part, and the duo uses a chilling rendition of Hallelujah in 'Where Soft and Balmy Breezes Blow'. The vocals are saturated and slightly hidden underneath faded textures. These combine to perpetuate similarities between the divine and the conscious mind by framing what seems to be a memory as something more otherworldly.

The closing track steps up intensity delivery, blending harsh noise and screeching strings that add the intensity a lot of the other tracks in the record were missing. What 'Over This Sea of Death' brings to light is the lack of intensity throughout Wings of Desire's runtime. While the duo tried to capture the nostalgia and unreliability of memory, do you believe that allowing for too much Placid or warmth is inaccurate for most? This duality is also reflected in 'Everybody Hurts', which captures dark and seedy thought bass chords that add a chilling undercurrent to the peace.

This release series by Not Waving and Romance brings so much emotion to the service of ambient music. The overarching themes of Wings of Desire beg to be studied, which is uncommon for the genre. The duo manage to amalgamate the dystopian inquiries of AFX and nods to the past utilised by Boards Of Canada, all wrapped up in the beautiful simplicity of Eno's Music For Airports. While the record will take patience, as it envelopes the periphery of your life, more will unfold from its mythological, Old Testament ambience.

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