You might know Casey J. Cooper as the frontman of indie band The Receiver, but he is also a composer and solo artist.
And I Will Rise shows off Cooper’s compositional diversity, combining classical chamber instruments with piano and synthesizers to create a cinematic sound that explores a variety of moods in its modest 22 minute run time. The standout track, ‘Contact’, starts off with a 80s horror-style synths before developing into a atmospheric and cinematic slice of ambient music. The soundtrack-like quality is more than a comparison – ‘Contact’ was used in a short film by Jennifer Reeder entitled And I Will Rise If Only To Hold You Down.
My thoughts on ‘Contact’ also work for the wider release. The use of the piano together with the eerie synths gives the EP a mournful or reflective quality that is always undercut by a bubbling menace, an effect that works superbly well and is reminiscent of Mogwai’s recent Les Revenants soundtrack. Cooper is clearly adept in a number of instrumental areas, and this allows him to capture a number of moods and themes in a relatively short space of time.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/138602465″]
And I Will Rise is out now, and you can buy it on a pay-what-you-can basis here.