“Copium” is the latest release by Bloomfield Machine, a music outlet of American multi-instrumentalist Brian Kassan, based in Huntington Beach, California. Arriving after “Left To Our Own Devices,” a critically acclaimed full-length album released in 2023, it’s a brand-new offering that will immediately appeal to anyone who appreciates marvelously assembled and flawlessly performed music. Consisting of seventeen perfectly constructed compositions, “Copium” demonstrates Brian Kassan’s impressive songwriting, composing, arranging, producing, and mastering abilities. Sonically, the artist combines various approaches, different techniques, and many complementary styles in order to construct a luxuriant sonic imagery. You’ll unquestionably need several listening sessions to a fully grasp everything Brian Kassan incorporated into these outstanding numbers. Perhaps genres like synthwave and synth pop come to mind, but don’t be surprised if you stumble upon some of the finest sonic ingredients borrowed from psychedelic rock, krautrock, art rock, dream pop, cinematic ambient, lo-fi, glitch, experimental, and avant-garde music. Bloomfield Machine uses all these additional elements as more than necessary enhancements, accentuations, decorations, and other details to uplift this collection of tracks to a new level while simultaneously remaining loyal to the primary sonic direction. It shines with qualities that meet all the trends in modern music production, yet you’ll notice subtle touches of nostalgia lurking around that spice things up. Therefore, these experimentations with various techniques, approaches, and complementary music styles resulted in a fascinating album that will not only appeal to fans of the mentioned genres but also to anyone looking for wisely assembled and flawlessly performed music.
As soon as you press play, it becomes apparent that Brian Kassan poured heart and soul into this release. He’s a genius songwriter and composer who pays equal attention not only to each track but even to the tiny details, accentuations, and other elements within those songs. Every composition arrives with a perfect structure, adorned with so many profoundly detailed segments, brilliant ideas, and superb musicianship. Every sonic and rhythmic maneuver has its place and purpose in this sonic equation, making this material worth spinning over and over again. Brian Kassan’s songwriting and composing techniques deserve special praise because his tracks usually start with a main theme that gradually evolves into a deeper sonic exploration, usually empowered with more complex instrumentation. Each composition is a separate voyage through a unique musical universe where even those subtle sonic maneuvers mean a lot. These are the moments where Brian Kassan’s admiration towards cinematic ambient, psychedelic rock, art rock, synth wave, synth pop, and dream pop shines the most. There are so many moments where you could just dive deep into the orchestrations, specially crafted for that particular song. The best part is that each track carries a fresh, unique, innovative approach that differs in so many ways from the remainder of the material. These are also the moments where you’ll notice his producing and mastering techniques, as each instrument is vividly hearable in the mix. His dedication to the craft truly shines here, as these tracks carry modern sound but they also resonate with nostalgia that leans towards seventies, eighties, and nineties synth, rock, and ambient music. These are maybe subtle, but notable features that unquestionably improve the listening experience, forcing the listener to not only dive deep into this material but to spin it all over again.
The synths play a significant role here. The interplay between various layers creates hypnotic, addictive, irresistible leads, themes, melodies, harmonies, and other sonic maneuvers that bring that lush, luxuriant, calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal, otherworldly ambiance to life. It’s nearly mindblowing how all these layers articulate together without overwhelming each other, making this album even more pleasant to the ears. There are also many chord progressions and riffs lurking around and bringing more rawness, abrasiveness, and grittiness to this comprehensive collection. The synths and guitars are perfectly paired, almost blending together to the point you’ll hear them as a colossal slab of harmonious noise. “Copium” wouldn’t sound this good without equally impressive, vividly hearable, intricate, warm-sounding basslines. Whether providing more heaviness, clarity, and depth, bringing more warmth to particular segments, or serving as a binding element that glues synths, guitars, and rhythmic patterns, the bass guitar plays one of the vital roles. Those low ends are rich, deep, dense, lush, and heavy, contributing groove, detail, and power to this material. You’ll also notice how all those wisely arranged, flawlessly performed, well-accentuated, moderate beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics keep everything in line while dictating groove and pace. Every hit of the snare, kick of the bass drum, accentuation of the hi-hat, and splash over cymbals cuts through a calm, soothing, relaxing ambiance and provides more complexity. When you pay close attention to every detail, you’ll realize that Brian Kassan is a brilliant songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist whose decades-long experience, knowledge, creativity, talent, skills, ideas, and musicianship shine through each layer. With “Copium,” he created a psych-infused, synth-driven, art-rock masterpiece that stands out from anything you could hear on the contemporary music scene. Therefore, you should immediately place “Copium” on your music radar. The album is available for purchase on Bloomfield Machine’s Bandcamp page.
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