CD-R, Synethesthesia Recordings, 2008
www.synesthesiarecordings.com
There is an evident theme that is staple from most of the artists that release music on the Synesthesia label: filtered pads and glitches that are forefront to the beauty that lies beneath come forth in waves of blissful harmonies and emotion wringing, pondering aural representations of thought processes. Graphical Sound are yet another prime example of this.
The sheer level of space is phenomenal within this album. Gentle ambience permanently soars and rises so that are quite unaware of where the last wave started and the new one begins, lifting you on am ever ascending high; its clever and well managed without overstating itself, like you are wrapped in a cocoon of pure white light.
There is a time and a place for “Shapes”; it is those long summer evenings sat alone where the designed sound is sculptured to fit sights and smells that haunt you and will remain with you for years to come like some theatre of life acted out in front of you through organic and synthetic scenes to the backdrop of what was and what is yet to come.
What is key to this album is the way the songs flow from one to the other with barely a break between them letting the listener flow and meld with the aural journey without break or distraction, demanding your attention and leaving you at the end of the ride before you feel it has barely begun – leaving you standing at a crossroads wondering just where you go next. A thoroughly excellent piece of work.
[9.5/10]
— Tony Young