szinzan
i had such bad anxiety and about a month after i listened to this album for my very first time, i was noticeably less stressed. i was happier and i had come to terms with my life. my mindset on life completely changed and it felt like everything was falling into place. i would very much recommend everybody to try listen this album 1 or 2 times per year for your mental health
ghosttropics
Phil is quickly becoming one of my favourite ambient artists ever, and this one has got to be my favourite yet. Liquid organic drones that move forward with a gentle yet powerful determination, like tiny organisms carried by the ocean current
Phil Yeah’s new release for Going In, entitled Friends in Power, throbs and bristles with a quiet, restrained potency. But its starkness is beautiful, and is best received with a curious ear. It touches the darker recesses of the psyche/subconscious, bringing to mind a deep water vessel exploring the ocean floor. The complete darkness causes the senses to adjust, becoming hyper-attuned to each tiny movement and sound. In a state of sensory deprivation, the world, ironically, becomes more alive, brimming with presence. And with Friends in Power, what is ultimately revealed is a universe of texture and energy.
Based in Philadelphia, Phil Yeah is an artist whose work is process-intensive. Friends in Power was recorded over the period of several months, and is composed of complex generative synth patterns, field recordings and effects. Live mixes, once recorded, are further processed and fed back into the sonic terrain. Altogether this comprises, in Phil’s own words, an “ecosystem” of recordings. This description is fitting, for there’s a sense of the organic and natural that comes through in this sonic landscape, even when it feels extraterrestrial. At times we’re submerged in an environment of bubbly drone; at others the atmosphere is subtly electric—like the spark and crackle of static, or particle-charged storm clouds growing dark. Everything is visceral and alive, albeit almost beyond human perception.
Phil Yeah cites influences as wide-ranging and conceptually abstract as Jon Hassell, Jan Jelinek, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, ASMR and even the sun itself. Listening to Friends in Power, all of these references come through. The work has the collage feel of Jelinek’s cut-and-splice, minimally textured abstracts, while retaining the intention of ASMR—to produce a visceral, perhaps even healing, experience for the listener. Ultimately, the process of listening is a process of discovery—like deep sea diving, it perhaps requires patience and full immersion in the process. What’s to be found is unexpected, but the treasures waiting to be received are more than worth it.
credits
released March 31, 2021
Written, produced and performed by Phil Benson
Mastered by Keith Fullerton Whitman
Art Direction by Loveland Studio of Design (L.S.D.)
Liner notes by Taylor Bratches
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