Atmosphere is the cornerstone of great music. Thought-provoking writing and memorable melodies are essential to create a compelling sound, but to be fully immersed in the world of a song is a feat no artist can casually achieve. However, Texan native Lil Terrestrial makes it seem simple. Since 2019, the producer has built a catalogue of atmospheric gems, and his sophomore album is his most dazzling effort yet. The Story of Sun and Moon is just as its title suggests: an extraterrestrial odyssey where the listener is sent into the unknown, revolving around the orbits of a dozen sonic stars. Fully instrumental, the album implores the listener to shut their eyes and bask in the sheer vastness of its grandiose sound.
As the album begins, the listener is greeted by a pulsing synth passage which promptly erupts like the launch of a rocket. A choir of synths ripple and intertwine like a musical double helix. Soon after, a distorted drum pattern enters the mix, adding rhythm to the ever-reaching expanse of noises. Though the opening track is simply titled “PROLOGUE”, its effect is far greater than simply introducing the listener to the sound of the album. Rather, it fires the listener into space, preparing them for the journey ahead.
Outside Earth’s orbit, the listener is pulled towards “The Moon”. Aptly titled, the track is the perfect sonic representation of the distant sphere, capturing a distinctly icy and ethereal sound. A chime of high-pitched synths rings in the foreground while the bass pulses underneath, supported by a subtle harmony of spiralling synthesisers which take precedence as the track fizzles to a close. Rather than fade into silence, the song transitions seamlessly into its enchanting counterpart, “And the Sun”. The bass is warm and sizzling, the synths chirpy and animated. Unlike the previous cuts which were defined by their ever-evolving soundscapes, “And the Sun” settles for a more predictable structure, repeating the same bass melody while a shimmer of synths echo in the ether. The end-result is one of the best tunes on the album – a laidback, comforting ride in electronica before the listener is pulled further into space.
“Loved Together” serves as a fusion of the sun and moon, bringing together the icy synths of “The Moon” and pairing them with the summery bassline of “And the Sun”. What follows is an acoustic interlude, bringing together an intimate blend of piano and guitar. The listener is given a final taste of the acoustic – the natural and familiar – before they are fully immersed in a haze of alien sound.
The one-two punch of “While the Stars Fell” followed by “And the Martians Danced” is one of the most stunning moments on the album. Both tracks bombard the listener with dreamy synths and slow, hypnotic percussion. While the former track is abrasive and grand, the latter is subdued and stripped back. Here, the double meaning of the album becomes clear, with the blend of sounds warm and cold reflecting the threads of a blossoming relationship. Likewise, the intimacy of the former juxtaposes the intensity of the latter, further evoking the musical dichotomy that makes The Story of Sun and Moon so compelling.
Further ahead in the track-list comes “From the Coners of the Universe”. A sharp drum pattern gives the song focus while an orchestra of electronica evolves around it. Soaked in reverb, the echoey synths give the track a distinctly psychedelic tinge, made more mesmerising by the ripple of electric-guitar-esque notes that rise in the song’s climax. After a string of equally dense tunes, the album concludes with “EPILOGUE”. The outro’s blaring synths lack the same colour and intricacy of the rest of the LP, but the effect is still there, painting the picture of an indescribably vast universe through its maximalist ambience.
The Story of Sun and Moon is a masterclass in immersion. Terrestrial’s use of electronica is elegant, using ambient and psychedelic aesthetics to submerge the listener in an intergalactic realm of sounds. What the LP lacks in sonic variety, it makes up for in its sense of cohesion, with seamless transitions and repeating motifs underlining every track as essential to the experience. The paratext further emphasises this, with the song titles joining together to form a poem of love and romance. In full, the track-list reads, The Moon and the Sun loved together in the outer reaches of space, while the stars fell, and the Martians danced. From the corners of the universe to the edges of time, we start to understand that love is the constant. With sounds alone, Lil Terrestrial captures the vastness of the atmosphere, and simultaneously, narrates the evolution of a romance. Rich in nuance, every listen to The Story of Sun and Moon is uniquely extraordinary.
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