Austin, Texas-based indie-electronic artist 1st Base Runner, aka Tim Husmann, released his debut album, Seven Years of Silence, just last week, along with a powerful potent, mysterious music video, “Break Even,” directed by cinematic master Matt Mahurin, whose list of credits includes Tom Waits, Alice in Chains, Sturgill Simpson, Soundgarden, Metallica, and Hole, along with a host of others.
Explaining the album, Tim shares, “It was something that had to be made. I had tried to suppress the concepts and ideas explored in the 8 tracks for several years. It is my willingness to be vulnerable and laid bare before others in an attempt to glimpse some fundamental truths about what it means to be here and to be present. It is an exploration of expectations and shortcomings and how they in turn will make us all the more uniquely human. No one gets out with clean hands, not on this ride, and not in this lifetime.”
Seven Years of Silence amalgamates elements of trip-hop, Gothic-pop, and avant-garde post-rock into ventilated, ethereal soundscapes occupied by contagious vocals, alluring melodies, and pointed lyrics on the tensions of living.
The album will be followed by a pop-flavored dub sound EP, Ellis, later in the summer.
Seven Years of Silence begins with “Break Even,” opening on dark, viscous tones rife with thrumming textures. Husmann’s voice, suffused by ghostly colors, imbues the lyrics with smokey portent. The flow of the melody, riding a weighty, pulsing rhythm, is at once hypnotic and electrifying.
From a subjective viewpoint, entry points include “All Thoughts,” rolling out on gleaming waves laced with new wave tints as Husmann’s husky, rasping tones give the lyrics urgent coloration. “Escape” travels on emerging, oscillating tendrils, shimmering with sticky hues. Chant-like vocals imbue the lyrics with sacred import.
“Pirouette” features low-slung compact layers expanding in scope to become encompassing – drifting, floating, coruscating with gentle throbbing textures of psychedelic washes. “What Am I” glows with soft filaments of sci-fi-like pulses as Husmann’s dream-like voice streams overhead. Flooding synths accompany a sparkling piano, permeating the tune with optimistic energy.
Another excellent track, “Ocean,” features hints of shadowy surf-rock atop a vibrating bassline as glistening seas of synths flow over the backdrop, brimming with rinses of unfolding ambient colors.
1st Base Runner’s Seven Years of Silence, full of shadows and heaving motion, is superb, providing irresistible layers of sonic complexity.
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