Phlux Ascent – Even Dreams Themselves Must Wake (Album Review)

There’s a lot of music out there in the world. An almost infinite number of songs, I would presume. However, in that illusion of infinity, you will chance upon many compositions that mirror each other. Genres that don’t necessarily expand the horizons of your mind. In today’s review, that monotony rhythm will surely be disrupted by an artist called ‘Phlux Ascent’.

Phlux Ascent is the electronic music project of the pianist Ryan Pryor, hailing from Southern California. He has come up with his newest release, titled ‘Even Dreams Themselves Must Wake’. It is an electronic album which narratively explores themes of dreaming vs wakefulness, as well as the classic Zhuangzi ‘butterfly dream’, in which Zhuangzi, an influential Chinese philosopher during the Warring States period, is quoted by saying:

“Once upon a time, I dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was myself. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.”

The album also boasts a wonderful smorgasbord of influences, being an electronic album that also draws from a variety of genres, traditions and styles. It has tinges of jazz, contemporary classical, microtonal soundscapes, and math-core. The album is also stylistically divided into two halves, ‘Hypnagogia’ as well as ‘Butterflies’, with each song within it flowing from one to the next without break.

I’d have to say, this is one of the best albums I’ve heard in a while from an abstract and sound design-esque perspective. A lot of the tracks on the album bear a very abstract compositional structure, aided by a lot of variable sound design and synthesis, elevated through the use of mixing, panning as well as mastering. This album is not necessarily an album to me, it is a cinematic experience.

It is quite evident that Phlux Ascent has a niche that goes beyond the traditional structure of music itself- and as someone who tends to gravitate towards this route, I think this release is something that everyone can learn from. The sounds that most people would regard as ‘fx’ on a usual synthesizer VST can be turned into a compelling quilt of sound as well as intent, in order to convey ideas.

I hear multiple nodes of sound going through the ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ phase, evident in songs such as ‘Mencolek’. I even wonder if this song was named after one of my native languages, Bahasa Indonesia. I can also hear tinges of improvisational jazz littered throughout the scope of this album, making it where it is absolutely chock full of musical variability- there is not one moment where you will be enticed with the ‘endless loop’ of predictability. Instead, the composer guides you by your metaphorical hand to see the exact strings of code and sound he permits you to perceive.

The songs in the release also have a warm, full and captivating quality to them, despite sounding almost entirely technical. There is competency, but there is also an earnestness to the sounds chosen and the notes picked. It can startle you in some instances, but also make you long for something you didn’t intend to at the same time. If you’re talking about the diversity of emotional motility when it comes to perceiving music, this album has all the emotion you require- no, I’m not just talking about the predictable triad of sad, happy and angry- it drills into it edge, angst, longing, drama, anticipation, and serenity all in one.

It is clear that there is a lot of thought put into the compositional aspect of all of these songs. Take ‘The Two Are Mixed’, for example, when the Fibonacci sequence of 1,1,2,3,5,8,13 unravels within the rhythmic conception of the song. Other songs also boast unique time signatures as well as syncopation.

In a way, this album is also utterly overwhelming in the best way. It’s like staring into a painting with a ton of microdetails, and you may miss some aspects- such as a trill or two, but it’ll come back to you the more you listen to it, with you even interpreting it a different way. It’s a mind exercise in a sonic configuration, filled with wonderfully complex syncopation and eccentric sounds that warp the notions of standard music. Dare I say, this is the next logical conclusion in the world of experimental music, after the likes of John Cage and Iannis Xenakis.

Simply stunning. I cannot recommend this album enough to anyone who appreciates music as an artistic and scientific form. It even inspires me to be a better composer, I am simply in awe of this album.

Score/Outstanding: Phlux Ascent simply stuns audiences with ‘Even Dreams Themselves Must Wake’. It is a contemplative, complex and abstract album that tests the boundaries of composition and sound design, with an array of different sounds to convey multiple motifs at the same time. It has one of the highest levels of musical variability I’ve ever witnessed in a modern piece of work.

[We rank singles, EPs, and albums on a scale of Poor, Mediocre, Good, Excellent, and Outstanding]

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