Lyndsie Alguire: Cities of the Interior

Canadian artist Lyndsie Alguire is fascinated with capturing what she describes as “bitter-sweet ethereal stillness”. Whether it be her music, her photography or her work as a model, her art aims to explore the feelings of intimacy and vulnerability through a surreal, atmospheric lens. As Lyndsie treads this path again on her latest collection of ambient electronic music, Cities of the Interior, she makes a strong case for just how beautiful “bitter-sweet ethereal stillness” can be.

Being a classically trained pianist, Lyndsie injects her electronica with a neoclassical touch. Her piano is a constant throughout the record, mostly used as a foundation for her symphonic drone passages to swirl upon but sometimes also as a melodic tool like on She’s a Story. Soft, otherworldly vocal bits, meanwhile, make frequent appearances as an embellishment to the surreal vibe of the mix. The overall effect on us is a feeling of transcendence, of being suspended in a state where time stops and stillness takes charge. Apart from the ambient and airy composition, the album also offers tracks that are more defined and relatively straightforward like My Every Move and Dirty Glass which can almost be defined as dream-pop ballads. A balance is also struck between pleasant, soothing pieces like the opener Perfect Daydream and darker soundscapes like on Postcards.

Lyndsie remarked about her music in an interview, “I want to draw listeners in and alter their experience of the passage of time”. Lyndsie’s battle against time on Cities of the Interior is well fought: she can’t stop it but her pieces are hypnotic enough to make us forget the ticking of the clock at least for forty minutes. Press play for a refreshing escape from reality.

<a href="http://lyndsiealguire.bandcamp.com/album/cities-of-the-interior">Cities of the Interior by Lyndsie Alguire</a>

Favorite Tracks: Perfect Daydream, My Every Move, Dirty Glass, She’s a Story, Crashing Into My

Track List
1. Perfect Daydream 09:29
2. My Every Move – with Klātu 05:20
3. When the Roads Meet 03:12
4. Dirty Glass 03:35
5. kokuhaku 01:59
6. She’s a Story 04:47
7. postcards 05:35
8. You’ll Never Know – with Theo Radomski 03:28
9. [almost] 05:03
10. Crashing into My 04:51