From electroage's demodulation section:

Hellothisisalex's first self-released album, The Acorn Children, is a blend of electro-ambient melodies and IDM rhythms. It recalls the analog era of the 80's. So there's a pleasant rediscovery of what has been done back then. At the same time, it sounds a little ordinary, because most of it has been heard before. It's only after several attentive listening that you can appreciate its subtle textures.

The album is filled with raw waving synths and weird noises lead by minimalist rhythms and analog bass lines. Tracks like Spider's Theme and The Day it Went Away represent this very well.

There are also darker tracks with very beautiful and soothing melodies, like A Land of Lakes and Fire and Life of the Waves. They both introduce us to a more abstract side of the album. In fact, except for some modified voice samples, the entire album relies on its instrumental aspect.

This brings an ambiguous atmosphere to it. Because it's not easy to figure out what each song is about. They seem to take whatever direction they wish to take. Therefore, it is better to interpret them freely than to search for a specific meaning. In addition to this ambiguity, there's a sentiment of duality between the childish musical simplicity and the mature emotional complexity that can be found throughout the songs.

Technically, the recording quality is very surprising. The analog elements are well balanced. The structures are solid, yet unpredictable, because you can feel the improvisation that lead to the final version of each song. It is precise as well as evasive. So there's a lot of liberty given to the listener.

I think that Hellothisisalex has a lot of potential. Their music is very interesting to discover, and can be listened to regularly. I'm sure that with their exploratory approach, they will continue to bring original ideas to their music. Their first album was instrumental, I'm curious to know what it would sound like if they included lyrics in their upcoming one...

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