Arian Shafiee - Engines In Unity (2023)

A main architect of one of the most exciting and innovative groups of the last decade, Guerilla Toss, Arian Shafiee has recorded for labels as varied and iconic as Sub Pop, DFA and Tzadik. Engines in Unity is the brilliant follow up to his 2018 VDSQ debut solo album, A Scarlet Fail. The record presents a retrospective of Shafiee's singular relationship with the guitar thus far, reconciling his interest in slow, languorous music and deep sound design. Vivid and often destroyed, the pieces on Engines In Unity pan between chamber arrangements and more inherently guitar oriented songs, drawing from his love of classical, ECM jazz, “slowed + reverb” culture and new age. In the artist's usual fashion, he crafts fleeting music that escapes categorization, with every vignette showcasing a new elusive sound source (most of which are processed acoustic or electric guitars). Through hyper detailed production, Engines In Unity takes you into massive physical spaces, all the while feeling simultaneously epic and understated