Pleq - The Sound of Rebirth

By the time you read this, Pleq will have released another album. Perhaps many more. Those in the electronic music world have the opportunity to be highly prolific, as Sound of Rebirth is the Polish sound architect’s fifteenth LP or collaboration, roughly. Sharing similar down-tempo palletes with the likes of Benge and Arovane, Pleq’s sound here is fulcrummed on jazzy piano lines immersed in chilled, soft-focus electronic foyers. The tracks that work best feel like sound accompaniments to the exploration of long-abandoned, but furnished houses, the air flecked with the novelty of curiosity fulfilled. Female voices appear as apparitions, whispering or breathing through walls, like on “A Very Gentle Death.” Pleq’s penache for writing alluring pieces that bloom gracefully as they progress is quite lovely. On the other hand there are a few tracks where the female vocals dominate, and their breathy waywardness feels more an intrusion. No more is this true on the opening piece, “Black Dog”. Hiiro-tent’s voice may be compelling in another context, but here it meanders and contradicts any flow the song might have had. Ghostly siren Natalia Grosiak flutters about more purposefully on “Raindrop”, fitting in much better with the album’s overall framework. Overall, the record has great songs, but the arc of the album is broken up by weaker or unfleshed-out tracks, or just a case of too many different sounding songs bogging down the main themes. The violins on “Swell_Bliss__Downtempo_Edition_” are a great addition, but they appear so deep into the procedings that it sounds like a different album alltogether. I thought the album was over several times before it was. One thing is for sure: With Sound of Rebirth close to 74 minutes, Pleq doesn’t skimp on the quantity.