Arvo Party continues to confound us all with another 2020 release. In heritance is a brand new album and one that doesn’t compromise on quality.

Released: 2nd October 2020

Label: Self Released via Bandcamp

Format: Digital

The intended direct follow-up to this year’s Love Above All has come following 3 equally worthy ‘lockdown albums’: the brash yet always fun synth-pop record Passenger which landed between the more ambient and sprawling Devotions I and II.

Considering that this year has also seen the excellent benevolent collection of Remixes for Lebanon and the Unsolicited collection of 19 other remixes, Arvo Party should rightly be seen as someone willing to turn our situation on its head, seizing the opportunity presented in lockdown in a way which gives back to the world and never compromises on quality.

Inheritance sees Arvo Party return to perhaps a more serious and certainly more contemplative writing style and the time taken to produce this album is self-evident in intricate detail and balance. The album awakes gently from an ambient slumber to a sparkling dawn. Delicate stripped back melodies dance on warm, sprawling ambience as the album steadily progresses. Subtle head-nodding Kieran Hebden-esque breaks come and go with chopped melodies as tension rises to climax in the frenetic Broadcast Architecture.

Found sounds and ambient recordings give this record a distinctly human feel, whilst maintaining the high level of production we’ve come to expect of Arvo Party. Beauty is abundant in the detail and there is rightly no fear in this unrelentingly positive and ultimately soothing body of work. The music is always comfortable in itself and it shines in a sea of negativity, isolation and yearning.

You can read Arvo Party’s contribution to our Why I Love column, here.

Arvo Party: Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Bandcamp

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