Adam Hipwell is no novice contemplator of the void. After cutting his teeth in the Melbourne tape-scuzz post-post-punk group Wunderlust & crafting cinematic strains of majestic instrumental post-rock with Council of Elders, Hipwell has shifted his focus inwards and out, and Gardenworld, released as Hipwell, is the result, a simultaneous zoom in and pan out. At first glance the elements may seem familiar, but there is a rare level of sensitivity in the playing and arrangements, a roiling complexity beneath even the most placid passages that occasionally comes to the surface, enveloping the listener.

Opener “Cool temperate” floats along on a placid ten-note sequence, gentle pads and squiggly leads following the changes, gentle washes of gleaming guitar rolling ashore. “I Choose You Too” tunnels downward, with big yawning synths grinding against each-other, glittery metallic shards ricocheting into the heart of the earth before the whole thing explodes with free-time drums and a guitar solo ragged as though it was yanked up through the ground from the mantle before suddenly fading to silence. “Big eternal beautiful” begins with birds and water before synths and guitar enter. Here, Hipwell's guitar feels like a more liquid David Gilmour, with all the ebullient lyricism and carefully placed notes, and as the layers of the nine-and-a-half minute track build, it manages to always carve out a place for itself, picking its spots like a boxer taking jabs. The back half of the tune drops out the guitars and piles on the big pads, yawning upwards as resonant arpeggios tickle your spinal cord. “Pale Reflection” doubles down on overwhelming walls of beautiful and aching synth, in just under three minutes it still manages to knock some dust off my pineal gland as wisps of guitar and filter sweeps float to the ever-opening ground like dead leaves. The (slight return) version swaps the synths for tanpura and pulsing bass, giving the guitar more room to stretch out and fill the corners. Closing track “Moment of perfection,” responsible for nearly half the albums run-time at 22:08, transports the listener to an oceanic scene, gently panning waves wash up on the beach and are mirrored by slowly swelling keys. Voices come in and out, barely audible, and the track ebbs and flows instead of building, closer to Jonah Sharp's most spaced-out work as Spacetime Continuum in its shape than some of its more obvious psychedelic/kosmiche/new age-y counterparts. There is an uneasiness somewhere below the surface, the disembodied voices in turns comforting and sinister, the arrangements twisting sour momentarily, big portamento leads over chiming guitars and field recordings bringing to mind the strident synths on THE KLF's Chill Out or Lorenzo Senni's STARGATE. The musical elements slowly wash away, leaving us finally with the sounds of the ocean crashing, birds yawping overhead.

Hipwell has staked out a wide territory for himself on this release, straddling many forms while maintaining a piercing gaze to the skies, comfortably inhabiting each one while pushing against its walls, and adorning them all with his strong sense of melodicism. Gardenworld pushes these strengths to the forefront, creating a compelling and deep sound-world for any who enter.

-M. Geddes Gengras 

Released on Island House Recordings September 30, 2022

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