Future Museums - Rosewater Ceremony Part II: Guardian Of Solitude (2018)

Austin based experimental luminary Future Museums journeys further inward on their new album Rosewater Ceremony Part II: Guardian of Solitude out October 19, 2018. Future Museums is the long running project of multi-instrumentalist Neil Lord (member of Thousand Foot Whale Claw and Single Lash), and Rosewater Ceremony Part II: Guardian of Solitude is the reflective sequel to his euphoric Holodeck debut Rosewater Ceremony from early 2018. Lord’s hyper sensory guitar work is eloquently interwoven within his enchanting new age synth tones, stoking a natural breath into his Krautrock inspired soundscapes. Future Museums continues the brilliant merger of the cosmos and the astral plane on Guardian of Solitude, traversing the peaks & valleys of the self through the practice of sound.

Founded in 2012, Lord has an impressive catalog of wide ranging solo and collaborative albums under the moniker Future Museums. Lord recorded Rosewater Ceremony Part II by himself in 2017 immediately following Rosewater Ceremony using the same set of gear in his home studio. On this round of inner explorations and mental projections, Lord expands his emotional palette beyond the ubiquitous bliss of the first Rosewater Ceremony to include a dimension of empathetic consciousness. Gently pulsing percussion and bass sequences materialize into tastefully reserved rhythm sections, guiding Lord’s solemn guitar leads through the vast swells of atmospheric strings and shimmering trails of cosmic dust. Future Museums plunges deep into electronics for the Rosewater sessions, embracing drum machine, sampler and analog synthesizer as the primary voice. Future Museums has always forged a uniquely trance-inducing realm of sound manipulation out of a remarkable mix of intuition and technique, and now Lord has expanded his vocabulary both emotionally and tonally while continuing to preserve his essential center.

Guardian of Solitude is the pursuit of a fundamental connection to the inner muse and acceptance of the ever-changing external landscape. Lord continues to advance and refine his approach to composition and arrangement while savoring the rich sonic sphere he has lovingly cultivated. Elastic and buoyant arpeggiators melt through hypnotic cycles on “Housewarming” while swimming through a choir of vocal-like synth “Ahhh’s”. Lord playfully introduces melodic motifs that become fully engulfed by waves of warm tones only to gracefully reappear on a new instruments. Striding tom drums and contemplative bass transport “Position the Inverse” into Lord’s wistful, effects soaked guitar work that serves to tenderly calm the tidal turbulence of the psyche. There are many moments of pure innovation across the seven tracks such as the completely improvised “Closed Eye” recorded live in one take while blindfolded, alongside stints of careful architecture like the network of dancing rhythmic textures on “Presidio”. Future Museums is an evolving form of art that has began to unfurl it’s dynamic potential and reveal a truly inspiring presence of greatness that is perpetually ascending.

Rosewater Ceremony Part II: Guardian of Solitude dissolves the barriers and noise of the physical environment and reignites the monologue within. Lord has elegantly sculpted a pristine embodiment of his own mind and anointed Future Museums as an enduring protector of solace.