I love the opening seconds of Josh Medina's Drifting Toward the Absolute. It's a wind down, like a slowing cassette, perhaps intended to prepare and settle us for the music to come. Think Albert Hammond Jr.'s first notes on Is This It? Guitar-centric melodies follow on both albums, but that is definitely where this comparison ends. You won't hear any angular pop ditties on Drifting Toward the Absolute (like, not even close) but instead shimmering ambient soundscapes. Across this supremely beautiful album, Medina's expansive constructions envelope the listener in warmth and light.
Besides guitar, Medina utilizes synth and tape to paint these blissful creations which seem to float along through a cloudless sky. However, the song titles indicate a different mood entirely, perhaps referencing the world in which they were written. The aforementioned opening track is A Summer to Forget, side B leads with Lie Dormant, which is then followed by highlight Blanket of Smoke. Medina lives in Seattle (where Eiderdown Records is located, too), and it's fair to guess that like Portlanders, Seattlites wished to forget last summer, spent 2020 lying dormant, and also choked under a blanket of smoke this past September. How one produces music so glowingly positive against such a hellish backdrop is truly a mystery, but maybe it's exactly what Medina needed. These dark days might necessitate music that is both warm and light.
Prior to last Friday I had never heard of Josh Medina or Eiderdown Records, but am now super stoked to hear more material from both in the future. Find Drifting Toward the Absolute through this link, and check out what else the label has to offer while you're there. And make sure to catch a sample track below, too.