Celer‘s paced but prolific stream of drone music has been a consistence source of elegant and elegiac melancholia since the project’s inception in 2005. Nearly a decade later, the Tokyo-based project now helmed solely by Will Long continues its run of distant yet personal tone music while adding an element of rhythm to the mix, a surprisingly risky change to a seemingly perfected formula. While seeing the word “rhythm” associated with Celer might be a shock, this is more of a tidal rhythm played with a minimalist’s hand. As Long explains, quite simply, “Several years ago while living in the United States, I became interested in the minimalist music of the 1960′s and 1970′s, and new wave of the early 1980′s, with the steady pulses, the constant harmonies, and endless continuity.”
Long’s resulting experiment is a dynamic piece of drone music that somehow heightens the forlorn movements while simultaneously keeping the frigidly static scenery we’ve come to expect (and personally, demand) from Celer. Although the “digest” version available is less than two-minutes long, the tones capture the depth and creaking beauty of the full, 49-minute piece.
But there’s also a more personal element at play. After much delay, Zigzag‘s fruition coincided with Long hearing his first child’s heartbeat via ultrasound, and everything fell into place. As Long explains, “It seemed like such a fateful connection between the baby and the music. When new life begins, everything points toward the future.” Preorder Zigzag (out 3/5/14) via Spekk’s Bandcamp as soon as you can. First orders come with a free limited edition, handmade packaged bonus album that’s available only when getting the CD.