ennsylvania native Keith Kenniff’s output as Goldmund has established him
as one of the preeminent composers of minimal piano-based ambient music
alongside peers like Hauschka, Dustin O’Halloran, and even Ryuichi Sakamoto,
who himself once described Kenniff’s work as “so, so, so beautiful”.
Hyperbolic as it may sound, Goldmund’s newest collection Occasus may be his
most exquisite yet. Where his previous recordings trod faithfully and sincerely
on paths of dimly lit, polaroid-esque nostalgia, Occasus deepens the undeniable
aesthetic that was hard-won over eight previous Goldmund albums, while expanding
the palette to include desultory clouds of synthesizer and a tastefully
distressed analog sheen.
The word Occasus means downfall, end, or the rising and falling of heavenly
bodies. The title is apt in more ways than one: while the emotional tone of the
album denotes bittersweet feelings of conclusiveness, it also perfectly
soundtracks the quiet moments when we look up to the sky, and humbly relearn the
smallness of our lives as cosmic objects churn slowly overhead with bewitching
indifference. Occasus feels deeply personal, private, and hushed yet
simultaneously grand, colossal, and profound. Remarkably Kenniff is able to
capture micro and macro with equal fidelity.
Tangential to prior Goldmund material, there are a few moments of Occasus that
feel dark and menacing like “No Story” and “Thread”, both of which
broach urgent paranoia, and provide a refreshing counterweight to the idyll
typical of the project. Kenniff’s music has always been unquestionably
gorgeous, but seeing it set against an occasionally manic backdrop makes the
moments of light shine that much brighter. Even when elements of Occasus play by
the rules harmonically, they tend to unfold with a satisfying level of
rhythmical disregard. “I like mistakes, I like when things don't go
perfectly,” says Kenniff of his wabi-sabi ethos, “I do have a tendency to
want for things to be perfect and precise, but I have to also realize that a
lot of things I like about music and art are very rough and impulsive, the
slight imperfections that give something or someone a unique voice.”
To that end there are few artistic voices as distinct as Goldmund’s. Using
only a few simple ingredients (piano, synthesizer, reverb, and a little more)
Kenniff’s sound has become so universal that you'd be forgiven for not
knowing who it belongs to. Knock offs be damned, every Goldmund recording is cut
from an inimitable fabric woven out of emotional intelligence, honesty, vivid
imagination, and skillful restraint. Occasus is another strong chapter in an
ever more gratifying catalog.