CFCF – Outside
01. Beyond Light
02. Jump Out Of The Train
03. Strange Form Of Life
04. Find
05. The Breath
06. Feeling. Holding
07. The Forest At Night
08. Transcend
09. The Crossing
10. Walking In The Dust
Well, why not? After already releasing an eight track strong EP called Music For Objects this summer it looks like Canadian electronic producer Mike Silver has entered a quite productive phase lately. His alter ego CFCF seems to be ready for the next step and the upcoming new album Outside combines these new ambitions in combination with some well-known sounds and structures. But in the end it seems Silver’s vision unfold way more precisely than on previous output.
Outside was mainly written and drafted on long rides in the bus since Silver has been travelling a lot between New York, Montreal and Toronto. But it seems that the transportation service used not the hightest speed. The new CFCF output is a quite introspective longplayer, one that creates its own microcosm. In it Silver builds up his epic dreampop structures, very virtuosic and gentle. From tender synthetic glockenspiel to big and epic analog synth pads – the musician loves the wide angle view of things. CFCF redefines his own sound on the new record while he creates big musical panoramas in our heads.
Jump Out Of The Train is the first proper track after the spheric intro. One that soaks us right into the scenario of the slow running train somewhere in Canada. We can only imagine what the landscape might look like. Silver stated that the Adirondack mountains have been a huge inspiration and we can totally get in which way. It’s the hypnotic mood of movement in combination with landscape that might come to one’s mind. Strange Form Of Life follow this trend and also unfolds a striking pad-driven chorus. Silver’s voice is way more present than on previous records, adding a tender extra note on the sound while reminding a bit on ACTIVE CHILD in certain moments.
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Outside defines its beauty by the tender synthesizer sounds. Silver’s obvious love for solid 80s pop moments shines through. The album is not dominated by beats and bass lines, it’s all about the tender synthesizers, bells and keyboard sounds. May there be quieter tracks like The Breath or The Forest At Night or more grooving parts like Feeling, Holding. The softness of the elements, the gentle combination of all these lovely sounds gives the music of CFCF the chilled aspect it’s aiming for. It might be a bit too less variation for a full longplayer but in the end time flies by quicker than you expect when you are lost in thoughts. And that’s what Outside is about – getting lost in a dream by creating a coherent feeling.
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