Eight Fragments of an Illusion

Munk and Schnauss’s third collaboration album is another shimmering, twinkling collection of synth and guitar ambient via shoe gaze and new age. Virtually beatless, the throb and pulse of multiple sequenced synth parts provide the rhythms, while stacked layers of interweaving synth parts and heavily-effected guitar lines combine to form a rich, shifting, nebulous musical palette. Throughout his career Schnauss has always kept to certain musical moods, preferring either awe-inspiring celestial highs or gentle, comforting nooks and crannies to the many darker or more challenging terrains that exist in electronic music, and it’s the same here, the melodies either romantic and rapturous or soft and snug. It’s gentle, cosy, low-risk electronica, rescued from easy-listening status by its depth, musicality and sheer prettiness.