If you’re not familiar by now, Rival Consoles is the work of London-based musician and producer Ryan Lee West. He’s released some fantastic music over the last 15 years, including albums Howl, Articulation, and Overflow. Some of his work has been very beat driven, but his new album ‘Now Is‘, sees him creating some beautifully work electronic sounds, combining melodic ideas with drifting, evolving sounds and arpeggios, creating a lush environment to absorb and envelop the listener.
Released as a single is Vision of Self, described by Ryan below…
“The title of the music reflects this sense ‘what is the self?’: it is both knowable and unknowable, it is always changing as we get older and as we pass through experiences, our relationship with ourselves, with others, with nature, dreams, love, hurt, desire, repair etc. I like the dream-like nature of thinking about this and how electronic music can echo that dream-like quality in an abstract yet identifiable way.”
Accompanying the single is a great video from María Medem, who describes her work as follows…
“The idea behind the whole animation is exploring, without judgment, how we change through life and how what we live shapes us, while we shape others as well. I’ve used plenty of symbols to try to evoke atmospheres and feelings without the need of being too explicit and to give some room to the watcher to let those symbols have a personal meaning for them. In the animation, some actions, like throwing a stone, doesn’t have an immediate consequence, but with time, it does have an effect. That’s how through the whole story, different elements, in principle with no relation with each other, are finally connected.”
‘Now Is‘ is available now and released through Erased Tapes.
