Trying to Float

Deru (Ben Wynn) adopts a structurally more conventional approach on "Trying To Remember", his Merck successor to 2003's "Pushing Air" (Neo Ouija). There's little that's conventional about Deru's hallucinatory, portentous sound, however, which emphasizes dense textures and downtempo hip-hop beats that curdle and scrape. Wynn's pieces float dreamily with phantom whispers, muffled bell tones, and soft electric piano burble piercing through dense strata of crackle and industrial noise. Representative of the album's spectral sound, “Words You Said” weaves haunting piano figures into a viscous slab of static and smears, while “Noru” merges tactile clatter and throbbing rhythms with blistered tones. "Trying To Remember" subtly merges electronic detritus with hip-hop beats in a nuanced and fresh hybrid.