Kindwave drops sophomore record

Standing at the crossroads of sound and cinema, Kindwave is a London-based composer and filmmaker who channels nearly two decades of experience in film and TV into a thoroughly immersive ambient project. Since making their debut with the single “Stillness and Storm” in March, a string of impressive releases have rapidly expanded the artist’s creative world and demonstrated their prolific output.

Now, Kindwave unveils their latest body of work with the brand new sophomore album titled The Ripperdoc’s Blade, a one-hour cinematic ambient outing that continues to build on the conceptual framework set out in their previous full-length, City of Chrome. Forging a cyberpunk landscape of flickering neon and synthetic identity, The Ripperdoc’s Blade takes the listener on a journey through emotional detachment, bodily transformation and digital rebirth. It’s an engrossing, slow-burning exploration of technology’s impact on selfhood, played out across an ambient soundscape brimming with atmosphere and textural intricacy.

Thematically, the release follows a character’s descent into a back-alley clinic; a half sanctuary, half surgical theatre, where body and mind undergo a reconstruction beneath low-frequency pulses and under green surgical light. There’s no dialogue, no exposition, but the arc is gripping.

Movements swell and recede with precision, each passage adding emotional impact to the silent visual landscape the music conjures. Paired with the record is a visual accompaniment that frames the music in a striking setting which adds to the visceral cyberpunk world the release presents.

Following the sweeping synth textures and ominous aesthetic of opening piece “Prologue,” the album progresses with the slowly plodding pulse of moody vibes of “Anaesthetic,” a soundscape that develops with the angular bite of gritty synth timbres and steady rhythmic anchor. Crafting a truly enveloping listening experience that’s at once hypnotic and sonically intense, the track flows through a segment of dreamy musical bliss as twinkling tones and airy synth layers float gently through a hazy scene, resulting in a truly engaging sound.

“Under The Influences” brings the hushed rattle of instrumental shots which are met with the muted pulse of synth and stuttered pip of bright tones, setting up an incredible voyage of avant-garde ambient instrumental music unlike anything else. Perhaps the most ambitious piece on the LP comes with “Recovery,” a song which offers a spectacular twenty-five minute journey that gradually unfolds with trance-inducing loops, the delicate drift of instrumental elements and soft echoes of percussion to deliver a wholly absorbing listening experience from start to finish.

With “Damaged Goods,” Kindwave offers a dark yet restrained descent into brooding territory, casting a memorable and highly original slice of post rock-inflected aesthetic, tinged with orchestral textures. Revolving around the mesmeric plucks of guitar and peppered with cinematic sonic atmosphere, the track serves up an innovative composition that’s equally minimal and dramatic. Closing the album with “Epilogue,” the dash of crisp synth shots and deep bass tones form an entrancing soundscape that steadily surges before falling away to reveal stretches of stripped-back instrumental elements, creating a stunning finale to the record.

Listen to The Ripperdoc’s Blade below