For some reason, this is a tape I keep coming back to. It feels like home, and though quick in length, the music runs in perfect time.
Alt is a 21-minute EP from the phenomenal Seattle-based somesurprises, a moniker for Natasha El-Sergany’s project. The release finds itself accompanied by the artist’s band, arrangements casually sweeping through three tracks of pure sonic accomplishment.
Influenced by shoegaze and psychedelic, it comes as no surprise that the textural and environmental quality of the music is on-point. Kicking off with the highly dreamy “Low on Sleep,” the mood is immediately set. Like floating through an unknown realm that simultaneously feels warm and familiar, track one invites listeners to just trust and let go.
The second song builds upon the ethereal quality of the first. A bit more psych-influenced, “Paolo and Francesca” is a deceptively light, mind-altering journey into a house taken from memories. Once significant and now returning as such, cozy images rush in as the sun dapples through fading windows.
The culmination of Alt arrives in the form of an epic self-titled nine-minuter. The track is a subtle wave that seems to go on forever, unpredictable but never the same at every turn. Without warning, you find yourself plunged into a world vastly different from when you arrived. There’s no escape; not that you mind. In fact, you don’t mind. Not at all.
Grab a copy of this cassette from the United Cassettes webstore: ph.unitedcassettes.com
Written by Kurvine Anna Chua