With Latticework, his debut as Voix Nulle, Sydney-based composer and multi-instrumentalist Brendon Warner moves into an expansive world of experimental ambient and electronic music. Drawing on his background in post-rock, particularly his years with We Lost The Sea, Warner brings a sense of scale and dramatic tension to his modular synthesiser compositions. Built from hardware synthesisers, samplers and drum machines, the album explores the meeting point between organic unpredictability and carefully shaped musical structures.
The opening track, “Signing Secrets with the Moon,” establishes an intriguing atmosphere through its fuzzy, gritty textures and shimmery ambience. The sounds swirl and hover around one another, and create a hazy, otherworldly environment.
“Neon Storm” takes a more enveloping approach, opening with an intense atmospheric flow that is simultaneously airy, relaxing and immersive. It pulls you into a liminal space, allowing the music to unfold without demanding a conventional rhythmic or melodic anchor. At intervals, that intense wave returns in powerful gushes, almost like blasts of air rushing directly towards you, before the atmosphere settles again. These surges give the piece a compelling sense of movement without disturbing its hypnotic pace.
“Childlike Empress” offers another glimpse into Warner’s modular-synth approach. Named after the ethereal character from The NeverEnding Story, the brooding dark-ambient piece draws on the improvisational nature of electronic sound design. Its thematic interest in organic evolution and resilience through adversity finds an apt musical counterpart in the unpredictable movement of the synthesised textures. Fans of Alessandro Cortini and Tim Hecker may appreciate its patient, exploratory approach, while Warner’s earlier post-rock experience remains audible in the music’s dramatic sensibility.
Inspired in part by Haruki Murakami’s surreal literature and the architectural and human landscape of Sydney’s inner west, Latticework feels like an audio collage built from fragments of mood, memory and texture. Warner’s experience with heavier music gives these electronic compositions an underlying dramatic weight, but he is equally comfortable allowing sounds to drift, shimmer and dissolve. The thoughtful debut finds beauty in uncertainty and makes atmosphere its own expressive language.
STAY IN TOUCH:
INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | BANDCAMP | WEBSITE | YOUTUBE
Photo Credit: Aaron Michael Streatfield
Review by: Naomi Joan