Black Rain (I)

Black Rain (I) takes the form of three extended pieces of new music from A-Sun Amissa, written and recorded by Richard Knox during the early months of 2020. Focusing on a more ambient and cinematic approach, Black Rain offers another texture to the A-Sun Amissa palette. Lulling, melancholic atmospheres are the order of the day here as intricate layers of sound weave in and out of each other, forming a bleak and sentimental tone. Never one to repeat himself, Knox has taken the more ambient elements of previous releases and developed them into a more consistent whole. The three pieces of music found here work beautifully in unison as orchestral drones lay the foundations for each movement while heavily processed guitar, synth and piano jostle for the shafts of light that intermittently penetrate the gloom. The soundscapes drip with warmth and hopeful fragility, yet the signature doom-ridden nervous tension is present throughout, seeping into the subliminal textures and impressionistic, distorted swells of noise. There is a great deal of restraint used here and certainly the minimalistic approach gives the tracks on Black Rain the space to breathe and evolve in a very natural way. The record was written over a three month period where Knox had a self-imposed deadline of completing one piece of music per month to then be released digitally with immediate effect at the beginning of the following month. A deliberate move to be more impulsive and instinctive during the writing process and, for him, a new way of looking at releasing a record.