Ellen Allien Is Phantasmic On "Sool" - Album Review

I listened to this album three times before I could think of a single word to say about it. How does one review minimal techno that is built around the spaces between notes? How does one describe music that is created to emphasize silence?

Known for fun, upbeat electro hits, Ellen Allien reveals a totally different side of her musical talents on her fourth solo album, Sool. Allien shares her quiet, dark side with blissful ambient compositions. Whether it was the phase of the moon, the season, a coming of age, or simply the influence of her collaborator Antye Greie (aka AGF), Sool is minimal techno at its finest. The music is so quiet, so subtle, that if you were to play it at a party, most people probably wouldn't realize there was music playing. But if you were to lay down in the dark, close your eyes and listen to the album from beginning to end, you would experience a beautiful journey through dreamy landscapes. Allien herself called it a "phantasm" when promoting the album's release and that's the best one-word description for Sool. It's like having tea with an apparition — an entity without solid form that changes and mutates as the need arises. One minute it is soft and contemplative; the next it becomes empassioned with the story it's telling.

The opening track, "Einsteigen" (German for "Enter"), sounds very much like Nurse With Wound/Coil, as heard on the Foxtrot compilation. Found sounds are layered lightly into an audio collage that would sound like background music if you were sitting in an outdoor cafe in, say, Morocco. The rest of the album is more musical, but not much. Hypnotic beats keep a laid back tempo while beeps and tones tell the story. Most of the album sounds like a DJ set involving Pan Sonic, Coil, Nurse With Wound, Murcof and Kinder Atom. A lot of it sounds perfect for stargazing, or at least the soundtrack for a planetarium show. There is a lot of space on this album, what Allien calls "room for ears," and sounds migrate slowly through songs like satellites across the night sky.

Unlike previous releases, Sool has barely any vocals. Most songs are ambient atmospheres with nary a human or robotic voice to disturb the reverie created. The music itself has different voices though, some soft and delicate, some deep and resonant, some shy, some with purpose, some aimless and so on. The music's storytelling "voice" starts off somewhat shy and meandering, as if it merely existed and wasn't trying to tell us anything. The voice changes a little on "Zauber" with the introduction of a synthesized oboe. Some might label the sound melancholy (it could be that magical dropped-D scale), but I don't think her intention was to introduce specific emotions. She seems to have created a space, a dream world, and it's up to the listener to interact with it. Each listener will have a different experience with the music depending on their perspective.

The pace picks up for the first time on "Its," the 7th track. With the BPM of a power-walk, a steady thump like a heartbeat propels the story. The interludes are injected with a flurry of ray guns, blips and whirrs that fly around the stereo field with excitement. The sounds of trash cans being kicked/smashed add to the frenzy and chiptune sounds lend a "game over" vibe. The next track, "Ondu," returns to the relaxed pace in preparation for "Freida" — an exquisite balance of downtempo electronica and Ellen's whispery vocals. This would make a great single as it would be quickly embraced by fans of Mum, Sigur Ros and the like.

At times ("Elphine" and "Its" especially), the noises remind me of early releases by electronic music pioneers Morton Subotnick, Raymond Scott and the like. The retro sounds of analogue synthesizers like the ARP in Close Encounters… alien sounds of ghosts in the machine oscillating up and down scales and speaking in electronic tongues.

Being an on-again, off-again fan of Ellen Allien's music, I really didn't know what to expect from Sool. The translucent minimalism surprised me nonetheless and I was completely enchanted by the entire soundscape presented here. I had come to identify Allien as a strong, independent female role model and, while she never comes across as vulnerable or weak, she opens up in a way that feels very personal and intimate. I feel honoured to have listened, as if she confided in me through this album. But then, that's just me. Anyone could enjoy Sool for its soothing beauty without the need to overthink it.