It has been a little over nine years since I had the pleasure of premiering a piece of music from Western Skies Motel, the instrumental solo project of Danish musician René Gonzalez Schelbeck. It was a splendidly atmospheric acoustic piece called “Falling Leaves” from Settlers (2016) which turned out to be Schelbeck’s last full-length outing until the appearance this month of Trails, a record which finds him in deep reflection upon the toll the journey through the intervening years has taken on both himself and the album’s protagonists.
“Settlers” was a portrait of the American settlers around the turn of the century, of them leaving all they knew behind in search of a better life. It was a depiction of the meeting with a new and bigger nature and the dependency of that nature, the planting of a seed. On “Trails” we’re following in the footsteps of those immigrants with the distance of the years gone by. In doing so we’re following the trail of ourselves, revisiting our own dreams and hopes. The broken dreams, the loneliness, getting lost in the impending darkness of the coming night…
Vivid, filmic, and occasionally bleak, Trails is a collection of songs which Schelbeck poignantly sums up as “a lone walk in a fading world”. The self-produced album was primarily recorded in Copenhagen with Jakob Høyer who engineered and mixed the record and played drums on a couple of tracks. René played most of the instruments himself – electric and acoustic guitars, synths, tape manipulations, and a bit of piano – with additional parts being performed by Julia Kent (cello), Nils Gröndahl (violin) and Jens Hein (bass).
There is a stark minimalism to the music on Trails – indeed Schelbeck plainly states that he prefers simplicity – but there is an evocative, brooding mystique as well which is quite captivating. Alternate tunings, experimental techniques, and bold strokes of tonal and textural color create a gripping narrative. And although Trails lingers less on the florid beauty of Settlers, there are still some stand out moments of acoustic wizardry such as on “Fountain”, “Lullaby”, and “Caravan”. While at times, the album is a lamentation for what has been, and may still be, lost, it is also a testament to the truth that, as stated in René’s own words, there is “still beauty to be found.”
Initially I thought I was making a sort of imaginary road movie soundtrack. At some point I realised it was slower moving. More like a journey on foot, absorbed in the landscape. I think of the album as a slow lone wander. I guess it’s a meditation of a setting sun. The sunset over a whole way of life. We’re facing a new era. The old one seems dreamlike, bathed in red, slowly fading out, becoming out of reach…
Trails was released on vinyl 2x LP as well as digital & streaming by Point of Departure Recording Company. For interested readers, here also is a little Western Skies Motel sampler from his earlier Bandcamp releases all of which are highly recommended:
Links: Listen/Buy | Point of Departure Records | Western Skies Motel Bandcamp
