New Music – Rihards Libietis Orchestra ‘Doublethink’

From the first wiggle on the strings you can hear that this is a track that bleeds. The quintet perfectly manage to lock into each other to produce an energy that is impossible to ignore, the song is buzzing with an electricity that you can feel in the black space inside your atoms. It vibrates at a frequency somewhere between myth and reality.

Instrumental music can be hard to review, unless you have an in depth knowledge of music it can be difficult to put into words what exactly it is that you connect with; which instrument is doing what and at a level or technique you find impressive. It’s not hard though when you hear music that you can just feel in the very core of you.

Rihards Libietis Orchestra combine different influences and sounds from around the world into a soundscape so rich and varied it serves up something for practically any listener.

It begins with this deep and resonant darkness. A confusion and a question that the rest of the song hopes to answer. The guitar lick has this hearty twang that flexes impressively through the opening refrain but it sings a little brighter when the cello comes in and the true sound begins to emerge. These midnight black soulful strokes paint a backdrop that lets the cosmic sparkle of the other instrumentation shine that much brighter.

At around the 3 minute mark the track just bursts out of its own skin. The flesh ripping apart as the beast that lurked within emerges. It would be grotesque if it wasn’t so mesmerizingly beautiful. From this orchestral arrangement evolves this dirty prog rock groove that just takes over and leaves a lasting impression.

It’s rare to connect with music on the first listen but the intangible weight of the emotions that are poured into this song strike a chord, and it rings out inside your soul long after you’ve finished listening. It’s energising.

Check out this track and then try to resist going over to the bandcamp to buy the full album.

Words by Matt Miles

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