Halos – Anaïa Maitea

Halos – Anaïa Maitea

(संस्कार Rites, 2021-07-02)

Ever since its inception as a sub-label to the influential Circular Limited, संस्कार Rites has endeavoured to reflect the connection between human beings and nature through a series of releases that take the audience on beautiful journeys, told by interesting musical storytellers.

The young label explores meditative and spiritual dimensions tainted with Hinduism, particularly well-developed in “Atsume あつめ” by Aucuba Replica, AKA Adhémar and Olorun, in “Animas-k” by Jarguna, that we also reviewed (here), and in “The singing moons of Qhushlicentroviix” by PneumaSphere, grouping profound ambient masterpieces.

It’s next to these great artists that Halos is making his debut as a producer, proposing an authentic work, made of beautiful trippy atmospheres on top of tribal rhythms. Playing magically with the percussions, embellished with ritualistic field recordings, the album opens a door to the urban listener, trapped in the harsh reality.

Oriental or aerial pads display a sunny environment, within the tropical forest in “Amanece En La Jungla” (“Down The Jungle”) or on the seaside, as expressed in “Los Deseos Del Mar” (“The Wishes of The Sea”). The movement from one landscape to another is more peaceful than adventurous, depicting the life of a herdsman more than an explorer. The listener is carried away by the flow and follows the fairly smooth roads created by the artist.

“Noche De Sacrificio” (“Sacrifice Night”), as its name obviously suggests, rises the tension and brings the album in more intense dimensions for the next tracks, creating an interesting emotional twist and balance. “Conexión Universal” (“Universal connection”) comes as the climax of the album, with its mesmerising bass roar. The headphones don’t give justice to the sound, made to be played loud in an amphitheatre or, for the context, atop ancient Maya Temples, seen as giant sound amplifiers in a 2010 archaeological study.

Halos releases the tension from the eighth track and allows the listener to reach an absolute deliverance with the melodic outro, somehow festive. Subtle poetic vibes or rather intense indictments in a mountain type of energy pattern, presence or absence of percussions brilliantly dictated by an obviously sensitive soul, well-designed atmospheres and efficient use of field recordings, the album’s richness augurs a very promising career for its creator and, for us, successfully conveyed the label’s spiritual language.

WRITING BY: MAREK LIMINAL & CEDRIC FINKBEINER | 12 JULY 2021

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