Blossoms in Red is
Brian Pyle's fourth
Ensemble Economique album for Denovali Records, and at least his 11th proper full-length overall. The album finds
EE alternating between the slo-mo darkwave/post-punk direction of 2013's
Fever Logic and 2014's
Melt into Nothing (two of the project's best albums) and the ambient sound collage elements of the two more experimental albums he released at the end of 2013. The title cut (a collaboration with
Soft Metals) echoes the creeping drum-machine tempos and shoegaze guitars of previous albums, and "You, by Candlelight" strips the sound down a bit, adding straightforward vocals by J Moon, resulting in
EE's clearest, most accessible song to date. On the other hand, the album is bookended by a very sparse ambient drone and a piece that combines rickety piano notes with the sounds of rushing waves. While not the most cohesive
Ensemble Economique album, it functions as a decent sampler of the wide range of styles that
Pyle explores with the project. ~ Paul Simpson