Album Review: Helios - Yume
By Eli Schoop, Contributor
[Unseen; 2015]
Rating: 2.5/5
Key Tracks: “Every Passing Hour,” “Yume”
Helios is the stuff made of dreams: floaty, pensive and fleeting even after you've just experienced it. Keith Kenniff's expertise in crafting ambient music is on full display here, and it's clear he has been refining and solidifying an ethos and mentality that really punches its weight in a unique way compared to such auteurs like Tim Hecker and Ryuichi Sakamoto.
“Every Passing Hour,” the opening track, emotes beautifully Kenniff's vision in delivering a lightened ambiance and the mellow piano tones gracefully waft over muted drums. Meanwhile, “Yume” satisfies in vividly using electronic melodies combined with elegant rhythms to make a soundscape that is angelic in its simplicity.
However, unlike Hecker and Sakamoto, Kenniff's creativity wanes and wanders throughout the album. It'd be unfair to say which song impresses the least as they're all finely tuned to a tee, but it's the lack of audacity and gusto the Helios project takes which is underwhelming. Kenniff is capable of so much more, yet his projected atmosphere from Yume too often matches his other, more perfectly captured records such as Eingya and Unomia.
Conceptually, Kenniff has missed the mark on Yume. For a musician who, on his record label page, is credited as “composing music for such clients as Paramount Pictures, Apple, Facebook and Google,” it's not surprising that the creations coming from him resemble a movie trailer or a car commercial more than a piece of music I actually want to listen to. Credit for the technique, which is truly majestic, but it can't replace a sheer emotional reaction.
