Amberhaze - Raleigh EP Review

Posted by Skylar at Saturday, January 29, 2011 | 2 confessed

Released: January 11, 2011
Label: KittyWu Records

Giuliano Gullotti, or better known as Amberhaze, is a multi-instrumentalist born in Messina, Italy but found his muse on the shores of Singapore. His debut full-length album, Then We Saw The Stars Again, got his musical project signed under KittyWu Records back in 2009. Since then, he has gained a reputation for his unique ambience-meets-shoegaze brand of music and has performed many shows throughout the island including Singapore's BayBeats, a festival gig promoting independent local and newcoming musicians.










Recently, having sailed off to the Canada, Giuliano mentioned "This is my first winter in a while. After living on the equator for so long, you forget what makes cold seasons so special: the light changes, the nights grow longer, things become still and then it starts snowing..
I hadn't seen snow in a while, either. Or leaves falling". It might just be the weather over there that has helped him get the inspiration for his latest release, Raleigh EP.

Pumpkinseed has a chilling start that brings images of a broken down, vacant room that was made for a child. And when the distant drums comes crashing in, takes a more moodier and darker turn, making you feel like you're all alone with nothing but a broken music box in front of you. Definitely something that tugs on your loneliness but still leaves you wanting for more.

However, the next track, Howland, leaves plenty to be desired in terms of musicality. It is a brilliant ambience track, but it never really did hit the high note that Pumpkinseed managed to leave in our eardrums. It has a low hum for most of the track, and near the end when everything starts to settle together in classic Amberhaze fashion, it just never really did reach a level where you just want to curl up under your blanket and cry.

In From Foxtpoint To Vermont Square is a dark reverberish piano piece with haunting string synths included. This track reminds us alot of the works of Clint Mansell's Moon, and as huge fans of Clint Mansell here at Puresinner, we have to give this track a thumbs up.

The C.P.R. (Beyond Christie), which is supposedly the ending to the industrial drums-laced track, The C.P.R. With nothing but a long engine hum, it's not exactly something what everyone would enjoy listening to. Finally, Vermont Square (First Snow) ends with a less intense track to the whole package. A bit of a letdown.

5 out of 7 sins