Greek producer Moderator assembles a smooth and perennially vibey collection of tracks on Silent Cinema, an album full of laid-back grooves, glittering instrumentation, and melodic lines of pipes, piano, and guitar that seem to be trying to say something. The effect of this collection is mostly sedative, with cuts like "Nymph" and "First Blood" hypnotising the listener with their wash of textures and rhythmic backbones. This is the type of music that can wear many hats: unwinding after a hard day, sound-tracking a crime thriller, or simply deep listening that doesn't require too much investment from the listener.
If songs like "Macabre" and "Hollow" could be described with weather metaphors, imagine a dark and cloudy day that has a fresh breeze blowing through it. There's an easiness and looseness to the foreboding tones and musical motifs, yet a steadfastness to the percussion, and one feels buoyed by these two elements as they let it play. It is the type of record you can let play and be equally parts unsurprised, pleasantly amused. There are no sharp tricks clamouring for your attention.
According to the press release, "Silent Cinema is a journey through imagined films, unspoken stories, and inner landscapes. It’s music for late nights, long drives, and moments when words fall short. Because sometimes, you don’t need dialogue to understand what’s being felt, you just let the scene play out in silence." However, some songs on this album belie the liner notes, with Moderator include short spoken word samples. While these are mostly brief and introductory, they are more prominent on "Shadows on the Ceiling". One can not in good faith call this a fully instrumental album with the addition of these samples, though I'm willing to admit that's up for debate.
Silent Cinema from Moderator is an effortlessly enjoyable album that never asks too much of the listener, as it serves them colourfully uplifting slices of ambient electronic music.
★★★