Atlantic to Adriatic
Edoardo Gastaldi & Jay Brewer
Released: March 14th 2024
Reviewed by: Fabrizio Brugnera -
April 6, 2024
Atlantic to Adriatic: A Soundtrack of Interconnectedness
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Atlantic to Adriatic is a collaborative album by Edoardo Gastaldi & Jay Brewer, a work that surpasses geographical boundaries to create an immersive sonic experience. More than just a collection of compositions, it is a meditation on interdependence—on how people, places, and moments intertwine, even when separated by oceans. The album dissolves the limits of time and space, turning distance into an illusion and transforming seemingly mundane sounds into something deeply meaningful.
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The creative process itself mirrored the album’s themes. Beginning with a simple exchange—one artist sending a melody or field recording, the other intuitively building upon it—each track was born from a fluid, instinctive collaboration. Sometimes Edoardo would compose a piano passage, sending it to Jay without explanation, trusting that he would complete it naturally. Other times, Jay would record a guitar improvisation or a field recording, and Edoardo would shape ambient textures around it. The process was not bound by rigid structures but instead embraced spontaneity, reflecting the very essence of connection and movement that defines Atlantic to Adriatic.
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Musically, the album draws inspiration from artists like Elskavon, Hammock, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, weaving together ambient, post-rock, and modern classical influences. It is built upon a foundation of field recordings, classical instrumentation, and electronic textures, challenging the very act of listening. What might initially seem like background noise—the hum of a restless city, the rhythmic clatter of a train, the hush of snowfall—emerges as an essential part of the composition. These sounds are not incidental; they are intrinsic to the narrative, illustrating that everything around us holds significance if we choose to hear it. In this way, the album reshapes our perception of sound, much like Pink Floyd once did with their experimental use of found audio, though here the effect is more introspective and cinematic.
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The journey begins with Restless City (Prologue), immediately immersing the listener in a living, breathing urban environment. The fusion of city sounds with delicate musical textures transforms an ordinary scene into something poetic. Each subsequent track carries its own emotional resonance: That Saturday vibrates with a restless energy that captures the anticipation of a moment on the verge of change, while The World Under the Snow distills a sense of stillness and reflection, where silence itself becomes expressive. The Quiet Pulse conveys the undercurrent of life’s subtle rhythms, grounding the album in a steady, meditative flow. Spleen is a piece meant to accompany solitary reflection, evoking the weight of existence but also the beauty found in small moments. Aster in Bloom paints a picture of resilience, of watching someone grow and flourish despite challenges—whether a child, a loved one, or even oneself. Finally, Our Life in Reverse (Epilogue) offers closure, though it feels less like an ending and more like a moment of quiet continuity.
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Many of the field recordings that shape the album’s texture have personal significance to Jay. The sound of the London Underground became Conversations on a Train, a track that not only captures movement through space but also reflects the ongoing musical dialogue between the two artists. Other recordings come from Ireland, Boston, hiking trips in Maine, and even experiments in the Carrier Dome at Syracuse University, where Jay and a family friend explored the acoustics of vast, cavernous spaces. The use of these organic sounds makes the record feel less like a studio creation and more like a journey through lived experience.
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Beyond just a sonic experience, Atlantic to Adriatic embodies the spirit of travel and exploration. Listening to the album evokes the feeling of stepping into unfamiliar territory, immersing oneself in cultures yet to be discovered, and allowing the senses to guide the journey. Each track feels like a sonic photograph of the experiences that shaped its creation—moments captured in time and transformed into sound. The connections between places, people, and memories become audible, revealing the beauty of exploration not just through physical movement but through the way sound can transport the listener to places they have never been. The album forms an invisible map of emotions and landscapes, where every note and texture is a pinpoint linking disparate moments into a single, unified whole.
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What makes this collection of compositions so striking is its ability to create a seamless, interconnected soundscape, where every track feels like a portal to another place and time. The album’s creation process—built upon the exchange of ideas between two artists across great distances—mirrors the very themes it explores. It serves as a powerful reminder to how collaboration can transcend physical separation, proving that art is not confined by geography but enriched by it.
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Atlantic to Adriatic is an invitation to listen more closely, to recognize the invisible threads connecting all things, and to find beauty in the overlooked. It reminds us that meaning is not something to be sought; it is something already present, waiting to be heard, seen, and lived.