Band: Ethan Rose

It was a few years back that a friend of mine introduced me to the music of Ethan Rose, “listen to it three times before you make a decision” they said. I had never been a fan of ambient or electronic music, not to say that I didn’t like it, just that none of it really caught my attention. But I trusted that my friend knew me and I figured that I could probably make it through three listens of just about anything.

First listen:
I was cooking and doing dishes… I forgot that it was on and didn’t pay much attention. (So to be fair, I decided not to count this among the three listens)

Second listen:
I had company over, I know its usually a bad idea to put an unfamiliar album in while company is over, its like a untested recipe when your trying to impress a date. It’s just too easy to be unpleasantly surprised. It was a mellow evening, the conversation was great, and I wasn’t paying too much attention to the music but wasn’t offended by it either. My company commented on it saying they really liked it. Ok, I thought to myself that is two people whose opinion I respect that like it.

Third listen:
I have to admit that I was drawn in, I respected how unafraid the compositions were of abstract sounds or even of a single note, it allowed tone to take over, allowing it to breath express its own tempo.

Fourth listen: (because the first didn’t count)
I was sold. Swirling tonalities playfully mix into my otherwise abrasive cup of reality, I see it as music to think to, to feel to. Complex and soothing, I listen to it pre or post a stressful event to help myself self regulate. The songs contain a since of effortlessness and ease that has kept it in regular rotation within my music collection.
--Reviewed by Aria Virelai--