Dan Caine - Solace (2017) [Hi-Res]

Gargle’s sound exceeds common genre classifications such as post-rock and modern classical music. Layering the light and dark sounds of instruments such as the guitar, accordion, and piano, their compositions transmit a vivid story with a touch of melancholy.

The album is a collection of meticulously crafted soundscapes composed with their signature accordion and guitar sound while applying additional components with other items including piano and electronics. Their compositions are inspired by modern classical music as can be heard in their previous collaborative release “Absence” with Bosque de mi Mente.

Performing regularly in the Tokyo area, the duo also toured France and Spain in 2011. In 2012, the album "Glow in the Gloom" was released on Fluttery Records. A collaboration album with Bosques de mi Mente (Spain) "Absence" was also released on Fluttery Records in the fall of 2013 and its Japanese edition CD was released through Dewfall Records in 2014.

As with their past releases, the album features collaborations. Other than the aforementioned track “Morphine”, the disk includes 4 tracks featuring Eva Tribolles of the French electro-punk collective MYCIAA on contrabass. Mixing and mastering duties were performed by Haruhisa Tanaka (PURRE-GOOHN) who had mastered the band’s previous album “Absence”.

The album illustrates meandering passages through various scenes and emotions. The opening track Morphine, inspired by Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel “Notes From Underground”, marks the band’s first use of text for their music. The poem was penned by fellow musician Sean Fujimoto (LVV, DrunkenForest, etc.). Furthermore, including the second and third tracks “Hibernation” and “Ephemeral Light”, which are now regularly performed at their live performances, the 9-track album can be considered the culmination of Gargle’s career.