Selerac - For Those Involved In Hennessy

Ryan Hemsworth's Secret Songs label is slowly winning the internet, one free release at a time. The latest release is a twelve minute epic from North Carolinian, Selerac. It sounds as though it's plucked right out of a Christopher Nolan film, full of dissonance and unearthly feels. It's heavy on mood and atmosphere that transport you and your corporeal form to another plane of existence until the beat drops, at which point you become tied up in a heavenly struggle, mimicking the human condition.
Perhaps the title, "For Those Involved In Hennessy," is a clue to better understanding the meaning behind this mysterious journey. I'm not a fan of Hennessy, but something makes me think that I should give it a try and see where the track takes me while under its influence.

To call this track epic would be a gross understatement, the multiple movements and iterations give it a number of lives and stories to tell. There is a connection between all of the movements that progress as an organic life story, from conception, to birth, growth into maturity, deterioration into old age, and finally the ascension to the afterlife. At times, it feels as though the track is fighting or rebelling against itself; it is always evolving, or perhaps, more correctly, changing, for the good or the bad.

Nearly halfway through its existence the sound of a clock or metronome is heard, and then almost all at once it disappears, overtaken by a sci-fi bleeping synth, which I can only imagine is, to continue the metaphor, the fight with new technology that all generations must wage as they become older. This struggle reaches its climax, and although the dust seems to have settled, a screeching sucks out all the air, until nothing remains for a solid 15 seconds. Just when you thought it was all over, your vision becomes clearer and you find yourself in a bright and seemingly stable world.

It can't be a coincidence that Selerac has the above image, Life Cycles, on his Facebook page, granted it's from 2013, but that theme is clearly something that pervades his work. It's almost as though he has treated us to an entire album or EP, not a mere single. The brilliance is encompassing all that is life and humanity. Selerac does a phantasmic job of exemplifying the struggle that is the human condition. Whether you are a philosopher at heart, a deep thinker, a music fan or simply a human going through something, this track will speak to you. Pick it up for yourself and live it for yourself.

SCORE
Composition 3/3
Dynamics 2/2
Improvisation/Progression 3/3
Melody/Harmony 2/3
Originality 2/2
Sonic Quality 2/2
TOTAL 14/15

SUPPORT (SELERAC): FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER
SUPPORT (SECRET SONGS): FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER