"Repetition is a form of change," reads one of Brian Eno's Oblique
Strategies. Seth Haley knows the concept well, and his style of
technicolour synth-wave takes the mantra as a challenge. Six
years after Galactic Melt introduced the cosmic story of Com
Truise, Iteration now concludes his sprawling saga. True to its
name, the album is built on Com Truise hallmarks: neon-streaked
melodies, big drums, robotic grooves, bleary nostalgia. But
Iteration is also the most elegant and streamlined that Haley's
singular music has ever sounded.
At the album's heart is an elaborate narrative, one full of longing,
hope, anxiety, and triumph. Iteration illustrates the last moments
Com Truise spends on the perilous planet Wave 1, before he and
his alien love escape its clutches to live in peace. "...Of Your Fake
Dimension" launches the interstellar drama with its anthemic
swells and widescreen sound design, before lovesick songs like
"Dryswch" and "Propagation" outline scenes wrought with
cybernetic pathos. Later, the frantic rhythms of "Syrthio" conjure
images of panicked flight as Haley's gorgeous synth melodies gild
the action in quiet heartbreak. Then comes the resounding "When
Will You Find The Limit…", when Iteration's pain and sadness finds
liberation in the vast unknown. The closing title track ends it all in
a gush of majestic revelry.
So goes the winding story that Iteration tells, and yet there's more
behind its telling. "I try hard not to write from my personal life, but
it's inevitably going to seep into the music," Haley explains. "It's
basically like I'm scoring this film in my head, but that film I'm
scoring is also somehow my life." There are glimpses of the
difficult time the East Coast native spent adjusting to a new life in
Los Angeles, fighting homesickness and burnout while also
touring the world. It was a time full of uncertainty, transition, and
self-realization. After a year and a half of living in California,
Hayley finally recaptured his creativity by finding new excitement
in his work. "I put more air, more breathing room in the
music—that was the big change," he says. And once that clicked,
the album just poured out of him. "It was like an information
dump. I feel like I finished the record in two weeks."
Such a clear refinement of the Com Truise sound took time to
develop, but Iteration is well worth the patience and persever- ance it cost. Some of Haley's smartest, catchiest work is here,
from the weightless pop of "Isostasy" to "Ternary"'s lush
synth-funk. A song like "Vacuume" somehow balances massive
bass drops and smashing drums with angelic gasps, and
"Usurper" gracefully pairs subtle poignancy and uplifting dance
beats. "For me, it feels like change," Hayley says of his second
album, and yes, this is Com Truise like never before. By embracing
the music's inherent nature and peerless qualities, Iteration finds
new avenues of expression in its vivid, familiar surroundings.
Label: Ghostly International – GI-296
Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 16 Jun 2017
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synthwave, IDM
Tracklist
A1 ...Of Your Fake Dimension
A2 Ephemeron
A3 Dryswch
B1 Isostasy
B2 Memory
B3 Propagation
C1 Vacuume
C2 Ternary
C3 Usurper
D1 Syrthio
D2 When Will You Find The Limit...
D3 Iteration